SAP, Capgemini & Microsoft Are Hedging Net Zero Bets on Tech
With climate action deadlines drawing closer, companies — particularly the world's largest companies — are in a rush. With just five years until companies will be assessed against the short-term targets they have set, and 25 years until the net zero deadline, the pressure is well and truly on for companies to make meaningful progress on decarbonisation.
Capgemini, Microsoft and SAP are three companies that are trying to move the dial when it comes to sustainability, not just for their own benefits but for those of other businesses too.
Executives from each of the companies recently featured on a podcast produced by Capgemini where they discussed the role technology will play in the global pursuit of sustainability.
Regulations are creating urgency
The podcast in question brought together Miguel Sossa, VP of Sustainability for the Americas at Capgemini, Sean Jones, CSO at Microsoft, and Japen Hollist, Head of Sustainability at SAP, to share their insights, experiences and expectations for sustainability in the coming years.
The evolution of the regulatory environment, particularly within the EU through initiatives like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), is proving to be a driving force for technological solutions.
Increasingly, businesses are turning to digital tools to help them become more compliant. For Japen, the rise of AI has distracted some businesses from the urgency that some of these regulations are demanding.
"People focus on AI for business efficiencies and put their resources there," he explains. "Then they fail to remember we've got ESRS regulations that are barrelling down on us."
With SAP’s almost ubiquitous role in the world economy, technology is seen not just as a compliance tool but as a means of realising business efficiency.
Data-driven decision making
Traditionally, reporting on corporate sustainability has been a laborious task that requires months of data collection and analysis. This has been a problem for years, summed up best in a concept known as the 'Pareto principle', which says that 80% of an analyst's time is comprised of data collection and organisation, while just 20% of time is actually dedicated to doing anything productive with that data.
In 2025, AI is helping businesses to save a lot of time so they can focus on more on action.
"Several years ago, it was challenging enough to bring data to the table once a year," Miguel explains. "But if we're driving a vehicle, we need that data now. We can't wait for a year to decide whether to turn left or right."
With such urgency, immediacy is king. For Miguel, board-level decision making will undoubtedly be improved when it is supported by cutting edge technology.
It's a view — and a strategy — that is shared across SAP, Capgemini and Microsoft, for whom AI is set to play a huge role in the coming years.
Each firm is using AI to handle its vast datasets
"You've got to be in the cloud to uptake innovation at speed and scale," says Japen. "The world is going to move much faster if you can harness AI all around it."
"We created applications for calculating carbon, water and waste," explains Sean. "The biggest topics now are about scaling and moving from reporting compliance to operations improvement."
The relationship between sustainability and innovation
There is a future where sustainability is a central part of every business decision. It's beholden on companies like SAP, Capgemini and Microsoft to make that happen.
Miguel believes that companies like his are going to have to be very introspective throughout the energy transition.
"Companies are going to look from within and say, are we ourselves really sustainable? In product development, they're going to take a look at all their product lines and say, how do we take waste and cost out of this?"
The collective narrative from Capgemini, Microsoft, and SAP is clear: tech is going to to help them achieve sustainability. Not just in terms of complying with regulations, but in terms of how their businesses will look in the second half of the 21st century too.
