Rethinking the Intersection of AI and Sustainability

As sustainability reshapes investment, AI is emerging as both a catalyst and a challenge. From processing ESG data to forecasting climate risks and detecting greenwashing, AI has the potential to transform sustainable finance. However, firms are still grappling with ethical concerns, responsible adoption, and building the right skillsets.

Join CFA Institute for a dynamic roundtable exploring how professionals can harness AI to drive sustainable value while maintaining transparency, trust, and sound judgment. Drawing on global expertise, the session will highlight practical ways to balance innovation with integrity.

Additionally, we’ll also consider the sustainability of AI itself, including its energy demands, carbon footprint, social impacts, and the need for ethical oversight. By addressing both how AI can advance sustainability and how we can ensure AI is sustainable, this roundtable fosters a holistic dialogue on the opportunities and challenges that AI presents for the future of finance.

Together, we’ll examine how organizations can responsibly integrate AI into sustainability strategies, elevate decision-making, and prepare for a future where human and machine intelligence must work in concert.

Learnings:

• Explore high impact use cases: Understand how AI is transforming climate modeling, ESG screening, impact measurement, and portfolio optimization.
• Address ethical blind spots: Learn how to identify and mitigate risks around data bias, model opacity, and accountability in AI-driven decisions.
• Build future-ready teams: Gain insight into the new capabilities finance professionals need to lead at the intersection of AI and sustainability—and how credentialing and continuous learning can close the skills gap.
• Develop a responsible AI roadmap: Discover practical steps to build governance, transparency, and risk controls into AI implementation across investment functions.
• Learn from global leaders: Hear real-world examples of how asset managers and institutions are embedding AI into their sustainability strategies—while maintaining investor trust and regulatory alignment.

Post-Event Actions:

• Evaluate your organization’s use of AI in ESG and sustainability workflows—identify where gaps in transparency, skill, or oversight may exist.
• Start a dialogue with data and tech teams to align on responsible AI principles and sustainability goals.
• Use learnings to shape your professional development roadmap, focusing on emerging intersections of finance, sustainability, and data science