Caterpillar has long been known for construction equipment like bulldozers and dump trucks.
But now, another part of the company’s business is driving sales: generators.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, December 30, Caterpillar’s power and energy business has become its fastest-growing sales unit due to a rise in data center projects for artificial intelligence (AI) use.
The company expects this segment to boost annual sales growth by 5% to 7% through 2030, compared to an average of 4% in recent years.
Caterpillar is also planning its largest factory spending in about 15 years to take advantage of the growing need for AI infrastructure. Demand for electricity at data centers is expected to triple by 2035, the report stated, citing data from the International Energy Agency.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Caterpillar is investing $725 million at its Lafayette, Indiana plant to build more piston-driven engines for generators. The company aims to more than double the production capacity for turbine engines by the end of the decade.
“I’ve been around a lot of capacity expansions at Caterpillar to know that there’s never a sure thing, but we have a better line of sight for these expansions than I’ve ever had in the past,” said CEO Joe Creed, who has been with the company for 29 years, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “With the rise of generative AI, it really caused an inflection point.”
In other AI news, PYMNTS reported on Tuesday about the technology’s emergence as a source of liquidity, resilience, and revenue as it plays a bigger role in accounts payable (AP).
“People are just starting to understand that AI isn’t just automation with better marketing,” said Finexio CEO and founder Ernest Rolfson. “Embracing it as infrastructure lets you use your data as a strategic asset.”
Traditionally, the report said, AP scale was limited by labor costs. Adding suppliers, invoices, and payment methods required more staff or increased risk. AI changes that equation.
“In the past, we’ve had people in large call centers doing manual outreach,” Rolfson explained. “You’re kind of hoping for a conversion rate.”
This system was never sustainable. Companies were “fighting a math problem with labor,” he said. AI “really fixes that math.”
It enables high levels of personalization, well-timed supplier outreach, and scalable engagement without adding staff. This is especially beneficial as businesses face tighter labor markets and economic uncertainty leading into 2026.
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Source: https://www.pymnts.com/