Leveraging the power of AI to support sustainable investment

AI’s role in investment 

In 2024, 58% of finance teams worldwide are using standard generative AI technology, a trend expected to gain momentum, with 90% planning to deploy at least one AI-enabled tech solution by 2026.  Finance is one of the sectors with the highest adoption rates, along with health, retail, and manufacturing, all of which are integrating AI into their operations.

Long-term investors engaged in the transition to a more sustainable economy can harness AI-led advances to improve their processes, boost their analytical capabilities and strengthen their ability to support companies. Specifically, by gathering and analyzing the vast volumes of data that are essential to spotting and assessing investment opportunities aligned with sustainability criteria, investors can make informed decisions that match their overarching environmental and financial goals.

While AI enhances information processing, it may be prone to biases and errors linked to the quality of the data on which it is trained.  Investors must solve this tricky issue as they seek to maximize performance, minimize risk, comply with regulations and adapt to the latest technological innovations.

What opportunities does AI open up for sustainable investment?

Data intelligence  can be harnessed to steer investment strategies more effectively in sectors with a high environmental and social impact, such as infrastructure and renewables. Infrastructure accounted for approximately 12.1% of Europe’s overall carbon footprint in 2020  and contributed to more than a third of total US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2024.

Decarbonizing infrastructure is crucial for achieving net-zero emissions, aligning with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to below 2°C and the EU Green Deal's target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

In response, investment firms are developing innovative AI-driven solutions to align their portfolios with the goals of the Paris Agreement and the EU.

“In renewable assets, for instance, we gather and analyze massive amounts of meteorological, operational, market and other data in Opta, a platform built by Ardian to manage investments in renewable energy, with the aim of guiding our team towards the best opportunities in renewables."

Asset optimization and support for value creation

Internally, Ardian teams use Opta to optimize a portfolio of more than 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable-energy production and storage assets.  Opta is employed to monitor operations and track the marketing strategy for electricity generated by the portfolio, capturing opportunities for operational improvements and commercial optimization via an alert system and simulator. For example, teams can simulate different combinations of electricity marketing contracts to identify the approach that best suits the fund’s performance and risk objectives.

“In another example of how we are harnessing data intelligence, as a shareholder in a number of airports, we worked with the airport managers in our portfolio to build an online platform called Ardian AirCarbon. It helps airports to quantify and curb their Scope 3 emissions, which make up 96% of emissions linked to airport activities.” Ardian AirCarbon enables airport managers to enhance their decision-making and monitor their carbon emissions in real time.

Many companies on the market are still in the midst of structuring and gathering this type of data, which is an essential step.

AI must be used wisely and judiciously

Kamoun emphasizes that investors must leverage AI to remain competitive, identify and assess new investment opportunities, and effectively support portfolio companies.

However, AI also needs to be used wisely and judiciously. It is a performance and decision-support tool. It cannot replace human beings, who must continue to have the final say.

“We make sure, for example, that information on airports in our portfolio comes from the airports’ own databases rather than from public sources. Similarly, we expect portfolio companies to verify their data before submitting it through ESG reporting channels.” AI is a technological game changer with the potential to transform the financial sector. But checking the reliability of collected data remains a prerequisite for its use.