Barclays has upwardly adjusted its outlook for AI infrastructure investment, estimating that combined spending by Western hyperscalers and AI research labs could top $1 trillion per year at peak intensity - a figure more than $300 billion higher than current consensus estimates. The bank also notes that additional upside to that figure could come from sovereign AI initiatives and activity in China prior to the expected 2028 peak.
In research that identifies the physical infrastructure required to support large-scale AI deployments, Barclays cataloged more than 400 firms it considers essential to expanding digital and power systems. Within that universe the bank singled out a subset of engineering, procurement, and construction companies that provide specialized services for hyperscale data centers and associated energy infrastructure.
Those EPC companies play roles ranging from early site development to installation of mission-critical electrical systems and power interconnections. Barclays highlighted the following firms as direct beneficiaries of the AI-driven buildout:
- Quanta Services (PWR) - Provides turnkey infrastructure work including high-voltage interconnections, power generation components, and modular low-voltage systems implemented inside data center facilities.
- EMCOR (EME) - Supplies comprehensive electrical construction services, fire protection systems, and advanced HVAC tailored to mission-critical data center environments.
- MasTec (MTZ) - Conducts turnkey site infrastructure projects, constructs data halls and delivers "outside the fence" utility enabling work for hyperscalers.
- AECOM (ACM) - Offers advisory services, detailed design, and construction management for hyperscale data center projects and energy grid infrastructure.
- Api Group (APG) - Performs inspection and safety services within data centers, working directly with hyperscale clients.
- Sterling Infrastructure (STRL) - Executes initial site development, installs underground utility networks, and provides mission-critical electrical services for data center developers.
- Jacobs Solutions (J) - Acts as lead design-build and program management partner for very large AI data center campuses and semiconductor facilities.
- IES Holdings (IESC) - Designs and installs technology infrastructure such as structured cabling and power management systems for hyperscale operations.
- Fluor (FLR) - Delivers engineering and construction work for large-scale energy projects, including data center and nuclear power developments.
- Tutor Perini (TPC) - Self-performs electrical, mechanical, and civil scope on complex infrastructure and large building programs.
Barclays additionally mentioned KBR and MYR Group as other names included within its broader list of firms tied to the infrastructure buildout. The bank expects demand for these services to continue through the build cycle, even as the pace of AI training requirements moderates toward the end of the decade due to deceleration in recursive self-improvement.
For investors and market participants, the research frames a market opportunity focused on companies that combine electrical, mechanical, civil and specialty service capabilities needed to enable hyperscale computing. The identified contractors span early-stage site work, utility connections and on-site systems installation, positioning them at the intersection of data center expansion and power-system upgrades.
Barclays' view places emphasis on the physical infrastructure necessary to support AI compute growth and highlights how capital allocation by hyperscalers could materially lift demand across multiple EPC specialties through the projected peak in 2028.