From Factories To Supply Chains

Artificial Intelligence

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Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from experimentation into core infrastructure, but adoption continues to outpace understanding. According to a recent Deloitte report, enterprise AI use has grown 50% in the last year, but the percentage of those using AI in their daily workflow (fewer than 60%) has remained unchanged.

This gap matters because AI is no longer confined to consumer applications or standalone software tools. It is increasingly embedded in the physical and operational systems that underpin the global economy. From data centers purpose-built for AI workloads, to industrial environments under pressure to modernize and decarbonize, to supply chains navigating constant disruption, organizations are being asked to make faster, more confident decisions. The next phase of AI is less about access to intelligence and more about how effectively that intelligence is translated into action.

The Rise of AI Factories

The rapid growth of AI has pushed companies to rethink the role and design of traditional data centers. Instead of general-purpose facilities, many organizations are now building what are often called “AI factories,” data centers designed specifically to support large-scale AI workloads. These facilities operate very differently from their predecessors, particularly around energy and cooling.

“AI factories are densely packed with GPUs and specialized chips that generate significant heat, requiring advanced cooling systems that further increase energy demand,” said John Maculley, Global High Tech Industry Consultant at Dassault Systèmes. “A single query in an AI search engine requires up to ten times more energy than a traditional Google search, and AI workloads are expected to drive data center energy demand up by as much as 160 percent in 2030.” According to a recent survey from my company, Prosper Insights & Analytics, roughly one-third of U.S. adults are already using…

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