Envizi’s technology enables IBM to boost its sustainability analytics.
IBM is expanding its footprint in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software and its environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsible business by acquiring Envizi, a leading data and analytics software provider.
Envizi’s software solutions automate the collection and consolidation of a wide variety of data—more than 500 types—in ways that align with sustainability reporting frameworks. This type of data isn’t always easy to access and use because it’s highly fragmented, which presents challenges to companies and investors.
The goal of Envizi is to offer a user-friendly and customizable interface that enables companies to capture that fragmented data and use it to guide, analyze and report on their ESG goals and actions. The software also aims to allow companies to identify efficiency opportunities and assess sustainability risk—as well as provide users with valuable sustainability insights to help craft their business strategies.
“To drive real progress toward sustainability, companies need the ability to transform data into predictive insights that help them make more intelligent, actionable decisions every day,” said Kareem Yusuf, general manager of AI Applications at IBM. “Envizi’s software provides companies with a single source of truth for analyzing and understanding emissions data across the full landscape of their business operations and dramatically accelerates IBM’s growing arsenal of AI technologies for helping businesses create more sustainable operations and supply chains.”
Envizi’s software will integrate with IBM’s larger suite of AI-powered software technologies, enabling companies to automate the input generated between broad corporate environmental initiatives and specific daily business activities, which is a crucial step in implementing scalable sustainability measures.
In particular, Envizi will integrate with IBM’s Maximo application suite for intelligent asset management, safety and reliability. In theory, this will help companies reduce their environmental impact by extending the life span of their critical assets and providing intelligent asset management, monitoring, predictive maintenance and reliability.
It will also interface with IBM Sterling to deliver supply chain solutions with smart business networks that use technologies such as AI and blockchain. The idea is that by working with Sterling, Envizi will enable companies to enhance their supply chain visibility, right-size their inventory, reduce waste, reduce the carbon footprint of their shipment/logistics and ensure responsible sourcing for their products.
In addition, Envizi will work with IBM’s Environmental Intelligence Suite (EIS) to help reduce climate-related disruptions to supply chains and operations. EIS is an AI-powered software as a service (SaaS) solution that helps business leaders plan for and respond to critical weather and environmental conditions—including monitoring for disruptive events such as wildfires or hurricanes. Envizi will help companies predict potential impacts of climate change and weather on business operations using climate risk analytics, help prioritize mitigation and responses, and operationalize carbon accounting. By pairing with EIS, Envizi can help companies increase resiliency by assessing and planning for the impact of disruptions on their operations, assets and supply chains. EIS uses IBM’s advanced AI and weather technology, which the company claims provide the most accurate global forecasting.
Next, Envizi integrates with IBM Turbonomic, an application resource management tool for IBM Cloud Pak AI-powered cloud security and management software. In addition, it integrates with Red Had OpenShift, a hybrid cloud enterprise Kubernetes cluster and container management application platform. These technologies help companies automate decision-making and optimize their performance, costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
By acquiring Envizi, IBM will be able to expand the sustainability practice of its IBM Consulting arm, which strives to help clients progress to meet their sustainability commitments.
Why Is IBM Interested in Sustainability?
Companies are responding to increasing demands from regulators, investors and customers to incorporate sustainable and socially responsible business practices into their operations. Investors and clients alike are also pressuring those companies to demonstrate these measures in a clear and verifiable way. According to Forrester, corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability risks were ranked the third-highest concerns for large corporations in a recent report.
But the fragmentation of data used to guide ESG actions has proved to be a significant obstacle. ESG rating and index producers often use their own—often proprietary—methods and data to determine scores. That data often comes from the companies themselves, opening the door to possible bias. This can sometimes leave the companies in the dark about how to improve their scores and leave investors wondering how to compare the different ratings and match the scores to their own investment priorities.
And that’s where AI could make a real difference. AI technologies have the potential to enable the rapid collection and interpretation of information, using algorithms-driven analytics to pore through unstructured company data from a variety of sources—and convert the fragmented information into structured, actionable data that is useful for companies, investors and rating agencies alike.
IBM has already established itself as an innovator in using data-centric approaches to social issues, such as with its AI-powered Watson Health initiative. With Envizi, the company now has a platform for determining, managing and optimizing its clients’ environmental sustainability activities with the same data-focused approach.
“As a leader and innovator in AI for business, IBM has decades of experience helping organizations around the world harness the power of their data and act on it,” said David Solsky, CEO and cofounder of Envizi. “IBM’s global reach, depth of resources and breadth of expertise will help us to scale at an unprecedented pace. As part of IBM, we feel more confident than ever that we can achieve our goal of providing clients and partners with the world class tools they need to reduce their operational impacts and optimize for the low carbon future.”
With the acquisition of Envizi, IBM is also putting its money where its mouth is. In 2020, the company announced its intent to reach net-zero emissions by the year 2030. This includes measures such as reducing its own emissions and using carbon capture technology to offset the rest. It also plans to procure 90 percent of the electricity it uses globally from renewable sources by that target year.
“Together we have battled through a challenging decade in sustainability and climate change and have emerged in a great place as governments and corporations globally embrace a low carbon future,” said Solsky on Envizi’s blog. “[IBM’s acquisition] is a transition to a structure that is going to allow us to scale at an unprecedented rate and globally help our clients accelerate progress toward their sustainability commitments. Within IBM’s Blockchain and AI Applications business, Envizi will be able to leverage a depth and breadth of resources, expertise, and tools that we could never have accessed on a stand-alone basis. In IBM, we have found a partner with a strong product vision match and commitment to sustainability.”
By partnering with a powerhouse like IBM, the Australian startup company Envizi has the potential to transform ESG monitoring, evaluation and action by making them more practical and scalable. It promises to enable companies to respond more efficiently to increasing pressures to make their business practices more sustainable.
Read more about IBM’s AI-powered response to climate change challenges at IBM Releases Environmental Intelligence Suite: AI-Driven Software to Help Businesses Respond to the Climate Crisis.