Bain & WGS Launch AI Tool to Boost Sustainability Goals

While there is increasing focus on sustainability, few organizations in the MENA region are making significant strides toward their sustainability targets. Although almost 70% of businesses in the region are said to have incorporated sustainability into their business models, just 3% are likely to achieve their objectives. Seeing this need, Bain & Company, together with the World Governments Summit (WGS), has introduced the Sustainability Readiness Tool—a digital platform powered by AI to assist companies in evaluating and strengthening their sustainability approaches.

This new tool gives organizations a systematic way to assess their sustainability readiness and align their operations with the world's best practices. It provides benchmarking functionality, actionable intelligence, and a strategic roadmap to enable companies to enhance their sustainability performance and become industry leaders.

Samer Bohsali, Senior Partner and EMEA Leader of Bain's Public Sector practice, insisted on taking action. "This tool gives companies a systematic way to measure their sustainability readiness and link with global best practice. As pressures from global sustainability issues escalate, it is imperative for companies to act decisively," he stated.

Closing the Sustainability Gap

Bain & Company's study underlines a large MENA challenge: though numerous organizations assert they value sustainability, few have made quantifiable progress. The Sustainability Readiness Tool is designed to overcome this with a data-driven process that allows companies to translate ambition into actionable impact. Through the use of AI, the tool provides tailored benchmarking and a roadmap to drive sustainability transformation faster.

Microsoft recently introduced AI-powered tools to support sustainable business strategies, and Bain’s initiative aligns with this growing trend of using artificial intelligence to enhance corporate sustainability efforts.

A Framework for Sustainability Success

The Sustainability Readiness Tool is constructed on Bain's LEAD Framework, which finds four distinct differentiators that distinguish sustainability leaders from others. They are connecting sustainability to corporate strategy by integrating it into core business objectives, involving cross-functional teams to create organization-wide ownership, energizing feasible missions through measurable initiatives, and driving innovation by scaling solutions efficiently.

Wissam Yassine, Bain Partner and head of the Middle East Sustainability practice, underscored the importance of the tool's launch. "The launch of the Sustainability Readiness Tool marks an important milestone in assisting companies in understanding the intricacies of sustainability transformation," he said.

Benchmarking Against Industry Leaders

One of the most important aspects of the Sustainability Readiness Tool is its capacity to benchmark organizations against industry leaders like Emirates NBD, Fakhruddin Holdings, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), Acwa Power, Taqa, e&, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), and Bain & Company itself. This benchmarking facilitates organizations in measuring their current position and determining critical areas of improvement.

Using the tool, organizations are able to put high-impact sustainability programs into priority order, align with world-class sustainability performance and regulatory standards, maximize competitive advantage, and attract socially responsible investors. Also, data-based insights created through the tool have the ability to enhance companies' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and establish stakeholder trust.

Activating Sustainability Dreams into Action

The Sustainability Readiness Tool includes 27 machine-learning enabled survey questions that deliver a personalized benchmarking report, enabling businesses to compare their own performance against leaders in their sector. The tool also creates an in-depth report with practical tips specific to every company's needs for sustainability.

With sustainability continuing to be a high priority for governments and companies across the globe, the launch of this tool provides a useful and efficient means to speed up corporate sustainability initiatives. Through offering precise, data-driven information and a systematic roadmap, the Sustainability Readiness Tool enables organizations to break through sustainability hype and create lasting impact.

As regulators, investors, and consumers increasingly push for sustainable operations, organizations using AI-powered solutions such as this will be able to better realize their sustainability objectives and stay ahead in a changing business environment.