ESG and AI: : 61% of people believe bots will succeed with corporate sustainability where humans have failed
Our global study, “No Planet B: How Can Businesses and Technology Help Save the World?” found that people are frustrated with the lack of progress society is making toward environment, social, and governance (ESG) goals. They want businesses to step up and redefine what best looks like when it comes to ESG—and they believe that technology can make more of an impact than human efforts alone.
However, without proper ownership and effective frameworks, the scope of ESG efforts can often feel overwhelming. As a result, many business leaders are left wondering, Where do I even start?
Moving beyond sustainability promises: 6 steps business leaders can take towards their ESG goals
01Meet and establish an ESG-suite
Form an ESG working group that meets quarterly and is comprised of leaders at the highest level across each division of your organization.
02Bring employees and customers into the fold
Engage employees and customers in authentic conversations about ESG, provide internal and external communications that support your company’s commitment to change, and offer follow-up feedback that shows you have acted.
03Set realistic goals
Start with a year-one plan. Set specific, measurable, and (most importantly) attainable goals and establish benchmarks to track performance.
04Establish an integrated, clean source of data
Make investments to connect, manage, and standardize ESG data across all systems to begin acting on ESG goals.
05Use machine learning and AI to help measure and track sustainability and ESG progress
Take advantage of modern technologies to collect error-free ESG data, reduce time-consuming manual processes, better manage the complexities of analyzing data across global supply chains, and uncover key sustainability insights that can increase your competitive advantage.
06Be transparent with goals and publicly share major milestones
Create accountability to help close the gap between intention and results. This also sets the tone for your new identity and approach with customers, employees, and investors.
Take action on your ESG goals with Oracle Cloud and AI
Oracle’s next-generation cloud infrastructure and built-in AI technologies set you up for ESG success. Discover how you can overcome the challenges and complexities involved to plan and manage your ESG practices.
-
How business leaders can take action on ESG
Jon Chorley, Oracle’s chief sustainability officer, and Pamela Rucker, CIO advisor and instructor for Harvard Professional Development and coauthor of the No Planet B study, provide six tangible steps for business leaders to turn ESG pledges and promises into action.
-
ESG and technology
Pamela Rucker shares why future growth depends on the ESG decisions companies make today.
-
Key highlights from the study
Find out how AI and individuals can jointly boost your sustainability and social responsibility efforts.
- Overcoming data challenges
- Bots helping humans
- Advancing diversity and inclusion
- Collaborating for success
“Oracle makes it easier for us to get an overview of our spend and environmental impact, loads, carrier management, and even how we interact with our logistics providers.”
Optimizing data to get results
91% of business leaders are facing major challenges in making progress on ESG initiatives, including the following:
- Obtaining ESG metrics from partners and other third parties
- Sourcing the right data to track progress
- Wasting time on manual processes for ESG reporting
- Integrating disparate data from across global supply chains
Saving the planet with AI
93% of business leaders would trust a bot over a human to make sustainability and social decisions because bots are better at:
- Collecting different types of data without error
- Making rational, unbiased decisions
- Predicting future outcomes based on metrics/past performance
- Identifying new ways to tackle an issue
- Being able to determine necessary steps to meet goals
Implement robust diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs
69% of survey respondents would leave their current company to work for a brand that takes DEI more seriously. In fact:
- Organizations that don’t institute and evolve robust DEI programs risk a shrinking candidate pool, reduced market share, and lost profitability
- 83% of people would be more willing to work for organizations that take action and are able to clearly demonstrate the progress they are making on environmental and social issues
- A growing number of laws and requirements are being enacted to support greater diversity in the workplace
Collaborating across lines of businesses
Business leaders understand the importance and urgency of environmental and social equity programs. 94% believe sustainability and societal metrics should now be used to inform traditional business metrics, such as:
- Supply chain management
- Product development
- Logistics and distribution
- Marketing
- Sales
- Talent retention and recruiting
Explore more resources to help you advance your ESG efforts
Oracle’s complete suite of SaaS applications helps you with ESG reporting, compliance, finance, operations, and HR management.
Reporting on ESG initiatives is no easy task. Learn best practices for ESG planning and reporting to help you plan for a sustainable future.
Get your guide to tracking ESG efforts with intelligent reporting (PDF)
Hear Oracle Chief Sustainability Officer Jon Chorley discuss how CFOs can play a key role in ESG initiatives.
Learn about Oracle's other sustainability initiatives