BlackRock signs an MoU aimed at scaling AI and energy projects through workforce planning

BlackRock is taking a more direct role in the human-capital side of the AI buildout. The asset manager said it has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with North America’s Building Trades Unions and the AI Infrastructure Partnership, an agreement intended to support AI and energy infrastructure projects by focusing on workforce planning and related coordination needs.

The announcement frames the MoU around a practical bottleneck for the AI and energy transition: the availability and readiness of skilled trades labor for large-scale construction and upgrades. In that context, the agreement suggests BlackRock and its partners want to improve planning for project pipelines that depend on construction schedules, permitting cycles and the recruiting, training and deployment of workers across regions.

While the MoU indicates a partnership model, BlackRock did not outline in the post the specific workforce planning mechanisms that would result, such as named training programs, projected worker counts, or timelines for scaling. Nor did it provide details on whether the agreement will influence any particular fund strategy, investment underwriting criteria, or direct financing channels tied to infrastructure projects.

The MoU also links the Building Trades Unions and the AI Infrastructure Partnership, organizations that typically operate close to industry and project stakeholders. That linkage indicates the intent is to align labor supply planning with the broader infrastructure buildout associated with AI computing and power needs, such as data centers and the energy upgrades that those facilities require.

From a business perspective, the message is consistent with how large capital allocators increasingly engage with infrastructure risk. Infrastructure projects are often constrained not only by cost of capital and regulatory approvals, but also by labor availability, subcontractor capacity and the time it takes to staff construction phases. By partnering on workforce planning, BlackRock may be aiming to reduce execution uncertainty for the kinds of assets and development projects its clients might want exposure to over time.

In the AI sector, the demand for power and advanced facilities has moved workforce and training into the foreground. Even when project financing is available, delays can arise if skilled labor is scarce or if the mix of trades needed for electrical, construction and specialty work does not line up with the project schedule. Workforce planning collaborations are therefore becoming a parallel track to capital planning for infrastructure programs, particularly in regions experiencing rapid buildouts.

What remains unclear is how measurable the agreement will be. The announcement, as presented in the available report, does not disclose key performance indicators, the geographic scope of the workforce planning effort, or whether any specific AI and energy project commitments are attached to the MoU. It also does not state how long the memorandum will run or what governance structure will manage progress among the parties.

For investors and industry watchers, the next thing to watch is whether the MoU leads to concrete public steps, such as published training or hiring frameworks, workforce capacity targets, or named pilot projects tied to AI and energy infrastructure. BlackRock’s participation also raises a broader question for the infrastructure market: whether large asset managers will increasingly treat workforce planning as part of “project readiness” rather than a background variable, especially as the AI buildout and grid upgrades accelerate.