CATCaterpillar Inc.
AI adoption · Q1 2026 earnings call
IndustrialsExploring
10
extracted from this call
4 / 5
quantified with specifics
Not disclosed
no breakout in this call
Caterpillar discussed AI primarily as a demand driver for its power generation equipment, particularly large reciprocating engines and turbines used in data center applications. Management cited generative AI and cloud computing as key forces behind surging data center power demand, which is driving record backlogs and a major capacity expansion. AI was not discussed as an internal productivity tool in any substantive way, and no AI-specific revenue line was disclosed.
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stage: exploring · max spec: 4
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internal_use
10 AI mentions from this call.
Extracted verbatim from the CAT Q1 2026 earnings call transcript. Speaker, section, and specificity tier surfaced for each mention.
- T4Prepared remarks· CEO· Customer demand signal
“over the past year and even since our Investor Day last November, our largest customers in the broader data center industry have significantly increased their expectations for capital spending. That has translated to accelerated order rates for us. In fact, since we first announced our initial capacity expansion plans in January of 2024, our large reciprocating engine backlog has grown by more than 3.5x.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings calllarge reciprocating engines - T4Q&A· CEO· Customer demand signalwhen we think of 2030, that 50 gigawatt number you guys laid out at the Investor Day, is there any way we can get an update on that given the announcement today?
“we estimate this will give us another 15 gigawatts capacity annually when we're done with this installation.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings calllarge reciprocating engines - T3Q&A· CEO· Customer demand signalyou mentioned you booked Prime Power large recips for now 6 data center projects, considering just the full scope of products that you have for us behind the meter offering. Can you just talk about what you're seeing in the architecture plans.
“I think all that depends on the site, the size of the facility, their access to gas, the footprint and power demand. So our teams are in early with customers. And you're right, I think we do have an advantage of having -- when you're going to string together a number of products behind the meter and you need multiple products, us having turbines and recips is an advantage for us, we can configure it one way or the other or a mix”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings callturbines, reciprocating engines - T3Q&A· CEO· Customer demand signalyou mentioned you booked Prime Power large recips for now 6 data center projects
“I think 6 announcements over 1 gigawatt, but also multiple projects as well that are less than 1 gigawatt where we're supporting customers with prime power.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings calllarge reciprocating engines - T2Q&A· CEO· Internal useCan you talk about just the decision to add more capacity in the large engines as opposed to perhaps increasing investments on the gas turbine side.
“We look at our own internal -- look at what we're trying to do internally with automating our factories and automation, what we're doing in the office, what we're doing with autonomy and our machines, right? We're going to use a lot more data and we just look at the growth and the use that we're going to have, and we're not the only company out there doing that.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings call - T2Prepared remarks· CEO· Customer demand signal
“if you go back to the industry with data centers and just the amount of CapEx announced in that industry since a year ago is quite significant. So that's the main driver of why we feel comfortable putting this capacity in place”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings calllarge reciprocating engines - T2Prepared remarks· CEO· Customer demand signal
“We anticipate growth in power generation for both reciprocating engines and turbines, driven by increasing energy demand to support data center build-out related to cloud computing and generative AI.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings callreciprocating engines, turbines - T2Q&A· CEO· Customer demand signalThe change from a 6% CAGR to now a 7.5%, you can account for that almost, really almost more than the change just from the increase in your target today for power gen sales going from double to triple over that same time frame.
“you look at the amount of CapEx spent in -- by the data center industry, particularly as it relates to power, we need to add capacity to do that. So that's incremental opportunity for us.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings call - T2Prepared remarks· CEO· Customer demand signal
“We continue to see demand for prime power trend higher as data center customers look for alternative power solutions to keep pace with their growth.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings call - T2Q&A· CEO· Customer demand signalis there any one that kind of predominated in the additional capacity expansion decision whether prime or Bower, oil and gas, whatever.
“it's not just AI. When we move into use of AI, we're going to use a lot more data. So the backup power opportunity provides a good base for us.”
— Joseph Creed, CAT earnings call
What management wouldn’t quantify.
Analyst questions where management declined to share a specific number. The pattern of refusals is often as informative as the disclosures.
- Management referenced internal use of AI/automation ('automating our factories,' 'what we're doing in the office') but provided no quantification of internal AI productivity benefits or cost savings.
- No breakdown provided between AI-driven data center demand versus non-AI cloud computing demand within power generation backlog or orders.
- No disclosure of what share of the 6 announced prime power agreements (each ≥1 GW) is attributable specifically to AI-focused hyperscalers versus other data center operators.
- Management declined to provide the total gigawatts booked for prime power reciprocating engines when asked directly by Jerry Revich (Wells Fargo).
- No quantification of AI-related revenue contribution or AI-attributable portion of Power and Energy segment revenue.
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