Prologis and U.S. Interior Secretary map future of supply chains and AI, with energy serving as a key driver
Summary
At Prologis’s Groundbreakers event in Los Angeles, Prologis CEO Hamid Moghadam and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum discussed how energy availability and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are shaping the future of supply chains and logistics real estate. The conversation made two linked points: AI (especially large-scale model processing) is driving huge new electricity demand, and meeting that need requires a strategy of “energy from all sources” combined with faster permitting, closer siting of compute where power exists and expanded on-site generation such as rooftop solar. Prologis is repositioning from a pure real-estate business to an infrastructure provider — physical and digital — planning data-centre conversions and local inference hubs to serve population centres while working on grid and on-premise capacity solutions.
Key Points
- White House (via the National Energy Dominance/Abundance Council) is pushing for faster permitting and cross-government coordination to unlock reliable, affordable energy for industry and AI growth.
- Prologis sees energy as the third crucial factor in site selection (after location and logistics): “location, location, energy.”
- Prologis is converting rooftop and property surfaces to solar but argues renewables alone won’t meet AI and advanced manufacturing demand; diversity of energy sources is needed.
- Data centres and AI “factories” are energy-intensive; proximity to power and transmission capacity will drive siting decisions and infill opportunities.
- Prologis plans to convert many urban logistics buildings into infill data-centre/inference hubs to reduce latency and serve population centres.
- There is a near-term capacity opportunity in squeezing more from existing grid assets, but long-term solutions require adding grid and on-site capacity.
- Electrification of fleets and advanced manufacturing will substantially increase electricity demand, creating a broader infrastructure challenge for the logistics sector.
Context and relevance
This discussion sits at the intersection of three major trends: rapid AI scaling, electrification of transport/manufacturing, and logistics real-estate evolution. For landlords, operators and policy-makers, the message is clear — energy is now a strategic input for supply-chain resilience and future growth. Prologis’s pivot toward energy infrastructure and digital transformation highlights how real-estate firms can influence grid planning, on-site generation and urban compute capacity. The White House initiative underlines the political momentum to shorten timelines for energy projects that support economic competitiveness, including the AI race with China.
Why should I read this?
Because if you work in logistics, property, tech or policy — this is where the headaches (and opportunities) are coming from. Energy shortages will shape where data centres and warehouses get built, who pays for grid upgrades, and which companies can scale AI without tripping over power constraints. The piece gives you the quick lay of the land and explains why rooftop solar alone won’t cut it — think big-picture infrastructure, faster permitting and turning warehouses into urban inference hubs. Handy if you want to stay one step ahead and avoid getting blindsided by energy-driven site constraints.