FinTechTalk: AI-powered ESG reporting in finance experience 

On 11 February 2025, FinTechTalk host Charles Orton-Jones was joined by Nisheeth Srivastava, Head of ESG Reporting, AIA. 

  

Views on news 

AI is playing an increasingly central role in ESG strategies offering new opportunities for data collection, analysis and reporting. 

 

These AI technologies can be a powerful tool to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of ESG data management enabling entities to better understand and address their environmental and social impacts and performance. 

 

Businesses prepare their ESG reporting by first doing some benchmarking and deciding on the KPIs that they are doing their reporting on. The scope of data they are disclosing depends on the type of regulation they are complying with – whether it is local or national. Then they identify what data they need to source for the report.

 

Available data is often fragmented and inaccurate. Each stage can be digitalised and enhanced with AI – it can help collect, analyse and monitor data or send alerts when anomalies occur. Once you have the data, GenAI and NLP can help you with writing a narrative based on it. AI-powered auditing capabilities can ensure that the high quality of data is maintained throughout. AI can also check corporate data against that of your peers in the industry or against the standards of a new regulation.  

 

The integration of AI into existing reporting systems 

ESG systems traditionally don’t integrate well with ERP and other enterprise systems. The integration of these systems can happen through APIs or with the procurement of AI systems that can migrate data from existing tools. With some solutions you can even write your own company apps. The integration of AI into ESG reporting is not only for large enterprises. Even SMEs can benefit from the capability to measure data and monetise from monitoring and reducing their energy consumption, for example. With GenAI, you always need human oversight.  

Although AI is permeating all aspects of a business nowadays, we still haven’t seen the addition of a Chief AI Officer to the C-suite. Paradoxically, the use of AI may have sustainability implications too. Although data centres consume a lot of energy, now there are green ones that don’t add too much to the company’s ecological footprint. With good governance and an ethical AI framework in place, companies can safely use AI tools in their reporting, as well as in other areas.

 

Data privacy is another pitfall. If you procure an enterprise level AI system, guardrails will be laid out in the contract. Beside those guardrails you must also have your data protection controls in place, though. If you disclose information to your investors, you may offer them a chatbot feature that helps them make queries into your report in a time efficient manner. However, the use of AI in ESG reporting hasn’t reached maturity yet, so these kind of services are still in their infancy. 

 

The panellists’ insights 

• First, find the type of integration that suits you then identify the type of plug-in that the integration requires.  
• Decide whether you want an enterprise level system or only need a solution to a local problem.