Acquisition of Envizi complements IBM’s growing arsenal of AI technologies to drive sustainability

IBM just announced its acquisition of Envizi, a leading data and analytics software provider for environmental performance management. This builds on IBM’s growing investments in AI-powered software, including IBM Maximo asset management solutions, IBM Sterling supply chain solutions, and IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite. Thereby, it helps organizations create more resilient and sustainable operations and supply chains. Financial details were not disclosed.

Companies are under mounting pressure from regulators, investors, and consumers to progress toward more sustainable and socially responsible business operations. They must also demonstrate these measures in a robust and verifiable way. In fact, corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability risks tied as the third-highest concerns for organizations. This was ranked by large corporations in a 2021 Forrester report. However, the various types of data companies need to understand and report on sustainability initiatives remain highly fragmented. They are also difficult for all relevant parties to access.

Certainly, IBM is already using Envizi to help streamline tracking and reporting of its progress against the company’s own goals in renewable electricity procurement and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction.

Envizi’s software automates the collection and consolidation of more than 500 data types. It supports major sustainability reporting frameworks. Its user-friendly and easily customized dashboards enable companies to analyze, manage, and report on environmental goals. Additionally, they identify efficiency opportunities and assess sustainability risk. Envizi’s solutions help streamline the management of these tasks as part of broader Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting initiatives. They also provide users with valuable sustainability insights to inform business strategy.

By using Envizi with IBM’s broader AI-powered software, companies will now be able to automate the feedback generated between their corporate environmental initiatives and operational endpoints. These are used in daily business operations, which is a crucial step in making sustainability efforts more scalable.

For instance,...