Cyber, connectivity and AI adoption: what six months in the industrial sector has taught us

Until recently, cybersecurity was rarely a core consideration in industrial real estate. High-profile incidents, such as the attack on Jaguar Land Rover, have changed that.

Developers are now recognising that physical infrastructure is a key line of defence in cybersecurity. Questions around network redundancy, telecom room security and cabling containment are becoming more common.

This shift is significant. Landlords who address cybersecurity through robust digital infrastructure are positioning themselves as reliable partners, supporting occupiers to manage operational risk in a more complex environment.

Yard spaces are emerging as a critical part of efficiency gains. As automation and autonomous vehicle technologies mature, they are transforming how space is used outside the warehouse itself.

In the UK, where large yard areas are typical, automation offers the potential to reduce footprint while increasing throughput. Automated systems can optimise parking, routing and scheduling with greater precision than manual operations.

Forward-thinking developers are already exploring how to digitally enable yard spaces, recognising the opportunity to future-proof assets in response to operational trends.

Despite strong capital growth – 5.21% annually as of August – too many industrial assets are let down by basic infrastructure shortcomings.
WiredScore assessments have uncovered a pattern of avoidable issues, such as:

Fibre cables emerging unprotected from warehouse floors

Fibre loosely attached to pillars with no containment

Security teams holding multiple keys for telecom cabinets without clear access procedures

These gaps reveal a wider maturity issue. While headline market performance remains strong, underlying technical resilience often lags. Addressing these fundamentals isn’t glamorous, but in a market where vacancy is rising, poor infrastructure can quickly become a leasing liability.

Occupiers are becoming more selective. With rents rising at 4.8% annually and growth forecasts revised upwards, many are looking to extract greater value from the buildings they occupy. One emerging trend is their willingness to co-invest in digital infrastructure improvements.

We’ve seen multiple cases where tenants have offered to contribute to upgrade costs once they learned their landlord was pursuing WiredScore certification. This reflects how central connectivity has become to operations—from warehouse management systems to data-heavy automation.

For landlords, this presents an opportunity to partner with occupiers to deliver long-term value, rather than bearing the full burden of upgrades alone.

AI is often portrayed as transformational for logistics, but current adoption in warehouses remains relatively low. What has changed is how developers and landlords are preparing for future demand.

The focus is increasingly on AI readiness: ensuring networks, power capacity and data infrastructure can scale to support future technologies. This is reflected in WiredScore’s research, which shows occupiers planning for AI, IoT and automation adoption over the next five years.

Source: WiredScore research, 2025.

WiredScore’s certification data is beginning to reveal how industrial real estate is shifting. Comparing existing buildings with new developments shows a sector moving decisively towards more advanced digital and sustainable infrastructure.

Key trends include:

Telecom resilience is being built in by default. Fewer than one in five existing buildings have diverse telecom intakes, yet every new development now plans for them.

Connectivity choice is expanding. Fewer than one in three existing sites have multiple network providers, but over three-quarters of new projects aim to offer them.

Renewable energy adoption is increasing. Nearly four in five new developments target PV (solar) panels as part of sustainability strategies.

Power capacity remains a weak spot. WiredScore’s benchmarks are not currently being met by any projects. There is a clear gap between occupier needs, marketing promises and what developers can control.

With vacancy rates at an 11-year high, the ability to demonstrate technical resilience and future readiness is no longer optional. Benchmarking is giving landlords the data to see clearly where they stand and to prioritise investment in the areas that will have the biggest impact.