Microsoft announced today the addition of a series of new data and AI solutions to its sustainability platform, Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability, including tools aimed at enabling users to access faster ESG data analytics and insights, improve sustainability data management and reporting, and collect and analyze data across the value chain.

Microsoft unveiled its Cloud for Sustainability platform in 2021, focused on enabling enable companies to record, report, reduce and replace their emissions through Software as a Service (SaaS) tools, and subsequently integrated the tool with Sustainability Manager, a data intelligence-focused solution offering organizations an increasingly automated view into the emissions impact of their entire operations and value chain.

Among the new tools released in preview by Microsoft is sustainability data solutions in the company’s recently released AI-powered Microsoft Fabric, aimed at allowing organizations connect ESG data with other enterprise data from multiple sources to provide meaningful insights, and prepare for analysis and regulatory reporting, in addition to tracking progress against publicly available data and industry benchmarks.

Additional AI-based solutions released in preview include Copilot in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, allowing organizations to use generative AI and natural language queries to ask questions and receive answers quickly to analyze environmental data, and intelligent insights in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, which utilizes an integrated and interactive AI model enabling deeper analysis of calculated emissions data, including determining where more complete data is needed, identifying reduction opportunities, and fine-tuning decisions based on historical trends, seasonality and data anomalies.

Microsoft also announced the general availability of ESG value chain solution in Microsoft Sustainability Manager, allowing for the simplification of data collection while providing a more secure process for suppliers, and enabling users to run advanced analytics on ESG value chain data and find emissions reduction opportunities within the value chain.

In a post announcing the new solutions, Satish Thomas, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Industry Clouds, said:

“Today, we’re introducing new data and AI solutions in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability that provide capabilities organizations need to progress in their sustainability journey. These include faster environmental, social and governance (ESG) data analytics and insights, an AI assistant to help accelerate impactful decision-making and reporting, and other advanced capabilities — all designed to help organizations move the needle faster.”