Paces, the software and services platform for energy infrastructure development, has launched Paces Agent, an AI agent that autonomously runs the work that has historically slowed power development. Unlike standalone AI tools, Paces Agent operates across both Paces' software and its expert services layer, routing decisions to users as it works through real development tasks.

The launch arrives as developers face a widening gap between power demand and the speed at which projects can be built. AI workloads, electrification, and reshoring have shifted US load growth from linear to exponential, while a typical development project still follows a sequential, fragmented process that requires large teams of analysts, GIS specialists, environmental consultants, and permitting staff.

"The bottleneck in power development isn't engineering or capital. It's throughput," said James McWalter, CEO and co-founder of Paces. "Most of what stalls a project is desktop and phone work that an agent can now do reliably. But the real unlock is when an agent can decide when a workflow needs a human expert and route it to one for the right validation in real time. That's what gives a small team the leverage to run a pipeline that used to require a team more than five times the size."

About Paces Agent

Paces Agent runs autonomously inside the Paces platform, with access to the company's proprietary development dataset, software tools, and Development-as-a-Service (DaaS) team of human experts. The agent can run the following workflows:

• Siting: Finds sites matching your development criteria – size, grid proximity, zoning, and more – ranks the results by viability, and launches targeted landowner mailer campaigns
• Ranking sites: Screens large site lists and surfaces your strongest opportunities based on your development criteria
• Gantt chart: Import and build Gantt Charts so you never lose track of the timelines for your projects in pipeline.
• Diligence reports: Delivers N-1-1 Power Flow Studies and consultant-grade environmental and permitting diligence reports, reviewed by Paces' in-house domain experts before delivery
• Interconnection and permit submission: Works in tandem with Paces experts to prepare and submit interconnection and permitting applications. All shared with you for final review before submission.

Every action the agent takes is auditable and traceable, a deliberate design choice given that power development outputs eventually become regulated filings.

"We've spent a year mapping the full development workflow down to the individual click and decision," said Charles Bai, CTO and co-founder of Paces. "That's what makes Paces Agent different from a generic AI tool dropped onto a dataset. The agent knows the steps, knows when each step needs human judgment, and knows the cost of every option. It's a development team in a loop, not a chatbot."

The bigger shift

Paces Agent reflects a broader change in how energy infrastructure gets built. McWalter has argued publicly that the combination of agentic AI, regulatory streamlining, including FERC Order 2023, and advances in modular hardware will allow small teams to develop a scale of power infrastructure that previously required hundreds of people.

"Paces Agent is the first version of what energy development looks like when you stop treating software and expert services as separate products," said McWalter. "Customers don't want a tool. They want projects moving forward. The Paces agent is what closes that gap."

Availability

Paces Agent is available today to existing Paces customers and to qualified developers, data center operators, and utilities.

To request access or learn more, visit paces.com/agent or contact [email protected].

About Paces

Paces is the software and services platform for energy infrastructure development. Paces helps developers, data center operators, and utilities find viable sites, de-risk projects, and get to power faster; combining AI-powered software, the industry's deepest development dataset, and expert services into one connected platform.

For more information, visit paces.com.