{"id":35365,"date":"2026-05-10T16:56:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wsps-growth-fueled-by-power-generation-ai-in-q1\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T16:56:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:56:25","slug":"wsps-growth-fueled-by-power-generation-ai-in-q1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wsps-growth-fueled-by-power-generation-ai-in-q1\/","title":{"rendered":"WSP\u2019s growth fueled by power generation, AI in Q1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?313321260226\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<\/p>\n<p>            <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">5 min<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/text-to-speech.divecdn.com\/newspost\/819671\/2026-05-08_09.29.37\/wsp-earnings-q1-power-ai-data-center.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>WSP remains full steam ahead as it continues to leverage the tools it\u2019s gathered, both on the artificial intelligence and M&amp;A fronts, to drive its growth, CEO Alexandre L\u2019Heureux told investors during <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsp.com\/en-us\/news\/2026\/wsp-reports-strong-profitability-in-q1-2026-results\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>the firm\u2019s Q1 earnings call<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> on Thursday.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Both have been key for the company as of late, L\u2019Heureux said. The contractor is seeing a deluge of opportunities related to AI, including data center and power generation projects, with the latter making up approximately one third of its U.S. revenues, according to L\u2019Heureux.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Power generation projects are gaining momentum as the data center surge forces owners and municipalities to reckon with the pressure that the facilities can put on local power grids. Amid legislation and community pushback, power constraints are among the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/data-center-project-cancellations-power-public-pushback\/818157\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>leading causes of data center delays<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>WSP\u2019s own work in power generation, L\u2019Heureux said, has been buttressed by the company\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/wsp-buys-power-energy-contractor-trc\/808440\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>acquisition of power infrastructure firm TRC<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> in December.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cWe are very proud to have completed the strategic and timely acquisition of TRC, and our power and energy service offering is now second to none,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>To that end, M&amp;A activity has been a key part of WSP\u2019s growth strategy. Last year, the company acquired <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsp.com\/en-gb\/news\/2025\/wsp-acquires-specialist-healthcare-and-life-sciences-consulting-firm-lexica\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>life sciences consulting firm Lexica<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> in June and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsp.com\/en-gb\/news\/2025\/wsp-completes-acquisition-of-ricardo-plc-a-global-strategic-and-engineering-consultancy-firm\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>U.K.-based engineering consultancy Ricardo<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> in October.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In response to an analyst question on future M&amp;A plans, L\u2019Heureux pointed to that history while also acknowledging that the company has deployed approximately $6 billion to $7 billion Canadian dollars ($4.4 billion to $5.1 billion) over the past two years on the M&amp;A front.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cSo I think it&#8217;s absolutely normal that we are at the top end of our range right now from a leverage point of view. Having said all that, I always and continue to have informal and formal discussion with our pipeline of opportunities. That remains very much at the center of our strategy and we intend to benefit from the current environment,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><strong><span><span>The AI advantage<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>In addition to M&amp;A activity, WSP\u2019s AI usage was also a topic of discussion for L\u2019Heureux. The firm had recently wrapped up its Global Technical Excellence Conference, held every two years, where more than 400 WSP employees gathered to discuss how the company was using AI across the organization. These use cases, L\u2019Heureux said, were primarily focused on improving quality and decision making while mitigating risk.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>He specifically called out the company\u2019s use of Nature Vista, WSP\u2019s environmental management platform, which leverages AI and other tech to help give asset owners a view of their project\u2019s environmental impacts.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The call outs came on the heels of WSP\u2019s fourth quarter and full-year earnings call in February, where L\u2019Heureux warned investors not to give in to what he called \u201cAI hysteria\u201d over the tech\u2019s possibility of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/wsp-cautions-ai-hysteria-earnings\/813338\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>replacing the services WSP provides<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cIn summary, by staying client-focused, investing in our people and partnering smartly, we are harnessing AI to drive growth, augment our technical excellence and deliver value for our client,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said on Thursday\u2019s call.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>To that end, one analyst asked L\u2019Heureux if there were any metrics that WSP could point to to show how much AI usage has increased in the past one to two years, which L\u2019Heureux said the company didn\u2019t track, but wagered it would be a large number of employees.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cI can tell you that this year, we have rolled out AI tools to more than 30,000 of our 80,000 employees. But I would tell you, and I would venture that the use of AI tools within our business is way more than 30,000 employees,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>WSP is far from alone in working to establish AI in its workflows. Contractors of all shapes and sizes are using the tech, which is <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/builders-ai-transform-businesses-survey\/807555\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>far removed from its infancy<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, across both front office and back office functions, on the jobsite and in the meeting room.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><strong><span><span>By the numbers<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>For the first quarter of 2026, WSP generated approximately CA$4.55 billion in revenue, a 4% increase year-over-year from CA$4.39 billion in Q1 2025. It also reported flat profits, recording CA$144.1 million for both Q1 2026 and 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>WSP\u2019s backlog was one of the brightest spots for the firm, which reached a record level of CA$19.7 billion. That\u2019s an approximately 19% year-over-year increase from 2025\u2019s CA$16.6 billion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\"storylines-carousel-wrapper hide-small show-large\" id=\"desktop-carousel\"\/>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The contractor has benefited from the AI boom. Some of the company\u2019s key sectors, such as power and energy, data centers, mining and digital solutions, are all experiencing elevated growth, L\u2019Heureux told investors. Those sectors represent about one third of WSP\u2019s net revenues.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cOur record backlog and strong pipeline of opportunities continue to underscore the resilience of our globally diversified platform and we are investing in talent and technology to deliver in a high-demand environment,\u201d L\u2019Heureux said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/wsp-earnings-q1-power-ai-data-center\/819671\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 5 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. WSP &#8230; <a title=\"WSP\u2019s growth fueled by power generation, AI in Q1\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wsps-growth-fueled-by-power-generation-ai-in-q1\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about WSP\u2019s growth fueled by power generation, AI in Q1\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}