Breaking down the data center opportunity for builders in 2026

It’s no secret that data center construction was the beating heart of the construction industry in 2025.

Last January, a collection of tech giants got engaged up to $500 billion to build data centers in the US Throughout the year, the so-called Stargate initiative kept pace project planning channeladvertising construction in Texas, New Mexico, Ohio and the Midwest.

For the builders, these multi-million dollar constructions have been a bright spot in an otherwise languishing construction industry. Large public builders have promoted data centers as a focus for your building unitsaccording to their earnings calls. These projects too building driven planning numbers higher to end the year, and many builders believe data centers will continue to be one of the most important trends of 2026.

Indeed, the projected numbers for building AI infrastructure are staggering. Credit rating agency Moody’s now projects $3 trillion in global spending over the next five years to keep pace with rapid data center expansion and demand for AI capacity.

However, in addition to the projected business demand for data center construction, contractors also believe that AI will fundamentally change their businessesaccording to a Dodge Construction Network survey. Investors think so too: AI-based technologies, along with robotics, took in $2.22 billion in built environment financing until the end of the third quarter of 2025, according to a report by Nymbl Ventures. Those dollars and demand for data center projects continue to rise, though fears of a potential AI bubble persist.

So what exactly does the deluge of data center projects and the push to adopt AI for construction mean at the end of the day?

Is this simply another construction boom, where contractors will literally lay the foundations, for a price, of course, and walk away once these facilities are built? Or it represents an opportunity for the construction industry to fully embrace technology in the sector ongoing AI arms race?

Experts say the answer is yes to both.

While some builders will take advantage of the boom in lucrative construction contracts to manage the work, other companies can access the infrastructure, power plants, roads and a host of other tangential construction needed to support the work, industry experts told Construction Dive.

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“As the U.S. works to expand network capacity to support energy-intensive AI workloads, a significant portion of the related work is happening around the data center rather than within the building footprint, creating opportunities for smaller specialty, utility and civilian companies to participate.”

Macrina Wilkins

Senior Research Analyst, Associated General Contractors of America

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At the same time, the AI ​​technology fueling the boom offers builders opportunities to catch up with other industries and use technology to their advantage.

A double-edged game changer

The impact of AI on construction is “two-fold,” said Macrina Wilkins, senior research analyst at Associated General Contractors of America. Technology is improving project and construction opportunities in data center construction, while also enhancing the way contractors run their businesses.

“You have it reshaping how contractors estimate, how they’re doing their scheduling, how they’re managing projects,” Wilkins said. “But it’s also driving demand for data centers, construction, substations, power infrastructure.”

In fact, the AGC 2026 Outlook Survey reported that data centers and power facilities account for the lion’s share of project opportunities this year. Outside these areas, builders have “dampened” construction sector expectations amid economic uncertainty.

Picks and shovels

The scope and scale of creating AI presents opportunities for companies beyond those with the skill, size and expertise to manage multibillion-dollar projects. Other contractors may also get in on the action, according to Ryan Kunisch, global vice president of product at tech giant Oracle, one of the global companies at the center of the AI ​​data center push.

“You have a small set of large owners that are really driving the demand, whether it’s the utilities or the data center owners themselves,” Kunisch said. “But really, the bottom of that pyramid [is a] a great opportunity for the trades, even for, as I mentioned, the logistics of carrying out some of these big projects.”

Just look at granite construction in Watsonville, California. Although the company has not presented itself as a data center builder, it is he emphasized his picks and spades strategy of building roads and other infrastructure for data center facilities in their earnings calls.

“As the US works to expand the network’s capacity to support energy-intensive AI workloads, a significant portion of the related work is happening around the data center rather than within the building footprint, creating opportunities for smaller civil, utility and specialty companies to participate,” Wilkins said via email.

Fear of bubbles

Despite these projections and perceived opportunities, fears remain, namely bubble fears about the so-called AI trade that rocked the stock market in late 2025.

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“A huge investment pullback [and] obviously, valuations on AI and data centers could have a very significant impact [builders].”

Will Senner

Senior Vice President, Preconstruction Solutions and Data Team, Skanska USA Building

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Take the cringe investors showed over chip giant Nvidia’s third-quarter earnings: The AI ​​darling posted a near-perfect quarter, belying “pretty much every bear case out there“, according to CNBC. Still, the stock gave back its early gains as bubble fears continued to nibble at the edges of the boom.

Indeed, if the predicted demand for AI infrastructure does not develop as expected, with the amount of cash and debt financing fueling the trend, the collapse of data center facilities could be disastrous.

“If there are companies that are heavily reliant on data centers and it’s become a very large part of their portfolio, I think a big pullback in investment, in AI and data center valuations, obviously, could have a very significant impact on their business,” said Will Senner, Skanska USA Building’s senior vice president of preconstruction and leader of its data solutions team. “Hopefully, [they’d] be in a position to be able to pivot towards other market sectors and other types of projects.”

Oracle’s Kunisch also acknowledged the froth surrounding the industry’s projected growth, though he believes AI is here to stay as vendors, including Oracle, find ways to make it useful for customers.

“The proof will be in the pudding, so to speak,” Kunisch said. “It’s just that as we start to document ROI, look at efficiencies, find areas to avoid using AI or even reduce the panacea of ​​the promise and get to some real metrics, I think you’ll start to see a stabilization in all of that.”

Innovation station

In addition to fueling demand for data centers and surrounding infrastructure, AI can help builders streamline the way they run their businesses.

“We’re seeing a lot of innovation, a lot of people working to overcome challenges like labor shortages or challenges like remote and close urban environments,” said Chris Gorthy, head of the Advanced Technology Core Market Group in Redwood City, California. That push, along with demand for the facilities themselves, has been fueled in part by an “insatiable need for data in every aspect of our lives,” Gorthy added.

There are also downstream openings for smaller contractors.

“I think one of the really exciting, but also potentially challenging, components of this AI transformation is the ability to enable everyday business users to develop their own solutions,” said Skanska USA Building’s Senner. “Many of these tools are increasingly becoming low-code or no-code, meaning you don’t need to be a data scientist to quickly build your own AI tool or agent.”

Senner points to Skanska’s Citizen Developer program, which trains the company’s users on how to build and use their own AI tools following the right data guidelines.

However, builders without a robust and accurate data infrastructure or verification system could run into problems.

That said, like Skanska and other large contractors, including Turner Constructionadopt these AI tools, smaller builders should also benefit, just as BIM, project management and VDC platforms have moved up the construction technology stack in recent years.

In fact, AGC is working to help smaller contractors take advantage of AI by providing education and outreach to builders in lower income brackets.

“If we don’t move together as an industry, we’re not going to move forward,” said Sarah Gallegos, senior director of AGC’s building and construction innovation division. “We can’t leave small and mid-sized contractors behind.”

Small contractors, Gallegos said, are using AI less as a shiny tool and more as a force multiplier. Examples include speeding up estimating, leveling the playing field in marketing and proposals, and streamlining administrative work.

Overall, AI adoption will continue to be slow and steady, said Chris Love, vice president of industry partnerships and innovation at AGC. It will even happen by accident as big technology vendors like Procore, which are used by builders of all shapes and sizes, add AI to their product offerings.

“There’s always going to be people who are more on the cutting edge, but I think as more traditional companies see this and see the success they’re having, and worry about falling behind, I think we’ll continue to see adoption,” Love said.