Dewalt has partnered with August Robotics to launch the world’s first downward drilling, fleet-capable robot to enable efficient concrete drilling for data centre construction.

As the race to meet global Artificial Intelligence processing needs intensifies, the robot is currently being tested and has completed 10 phases of data centre construction with one of the world’s largest and most influential hyperscaler tech companies.

Dewalt demonstrated the robotic drill’s capabilities during World of Concrete in Las Vegas in January.

“Across the globe, hyperscalers, which account for nearly 80 per cent of overall data centre demand are investing in infrastructure to power AI computing, with an estimated industry-wide capital expenditure of $7 trillion in data centres by 2030,” said Bill Beck, President of Tools & Outdoor at

, Dewalt’s parent company.

“Our customers consistently emphasize that speed of construction is critical. The robotic drilling solution meets this need head-on through schedule acceleration, cost savings, near-perfect accuracy and enhanced jobsite safety.”

Deploying the robotic drilling solution has cut about 80 weeks off construction across 10 data centre projects.

“We’re really excited. We’ve seen excellent productivity. We’re about a little over 10 times faster than folks drilling by hand,” said Alex Schickling, Dewalt’s Director of Robotics.

As a crucial stage of the construction workflow, the robotic solution drills thousands of holes for installation of server rack stops and structural legs that support overhead mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

Implementation of the robot has significantly decreased cost per hole and delivered 99.97 per cent accuracy of location and depth for more than 100 holes.

While the robotic drill is improving completion times on site, it’s also improving safety and reducing physical stress.

“We’ve worked with a lot of contractors on data centre sites. Drilling into the ground is hard on the back, it’s hard on the knees and shoulders. There’s a lot of vibration,” Schickling said. “So, we want to make the job as easy as we can on the human body.”

He added downward drilling into concrete is also a task that was often falling onto apprentices.

“Apprentices are there to learn, but all of a sudden you’ve got all your apprentices spending 10 hours a day, six days a week, drilling holes,” Schickling said. “We want to get the apprentices in the field, learning the technical skills, learning those trades and get them out of drilling holes.”

The robotic solution is fully automated and only requires human intervention for routine maintenance like emptying the vacuum, replacing the drill bit and changing the battery.

“Everything runs off the tablet, you just click go,” Schickling said. “It runs autonomously until you need a pit stop.”

The addition of the robot strengthens Dewalt’s data centre ecosystem encompassing Perform and Protect tools and technology that mitigate vibration and dust and enhance user control.

The robotic drilling solution is expected to be commercially available mid-year 2026.