Overview
In this Executive Decision Lab, participants learn how to integrate AI and sustainability as value creation levers — moving from compliance pressure to better decisions, stronger execution, and measurable business impact.
The programme is designed for leaders who need to act, not simply understand. It combines sustainability strategy, AI fluency, business value, and execution discipline.
Participants use AI to structure complex information, challenge assumptions, compare options, stress-test initiatives, and design action plans. The goal is not to produce another dashboard. The goal is to improve the quality of decisions and the speed of execution.
WHY ATTEND THE PROGRAMME
**What participants must bring: a real sustainability challenge from their organisation. This becomes the anchor for the prototype, the three initiatives, and the 90-day plan. Participants who arrive without a challenge in mind will struggle to extract full value from the lab.
- Designed as an executive decision lab — not an AI skills course. AI is used to sharpen trade-offs and improve decision quality under sustainability pressure.
- Bridges compliance (CSRD, ISSB) with execution, translating regulatory pressure into three owned initiatives (Adapt, Thrive, Catalyse) delivered through a concrete 90-day action plan.
- Uses the 7 Principles of a Sustainable Company as a strategic anchor, providing philosophical depth and a rigorous decision framework to prioritise what truly matters.
- Applies AI hands-on where it creates value, not just insight — using AI to compare, stress-test, and prioritise initiatives with a clear ROI and feasibility lens.
- Grounded in real-world execution, with insights and testimonials from one of the world’s most advanced sustainability-driven companies, ensuring credibility beyond theory.
- Real overview of all the AI landscape provided by practitioners and not academics
- Moves participants from learning to action, with each participant leaving with decisions, owners, governance logic, and a realistic execution roadmap for the next 90 days.
- Delivers a 90-day execution roadmap with a structured Day 60/90 virtual clinic, ensuring learning converts into measurable action.
- More effectively communicate about sustainability to the rest of the organisation
- Ability to position sustainability as value generative vs a cost centre.
LEARNING OUTCOME
- Read and frame sustainability strategically. Treat sustainability as a lens on long-term business value, risk, and capital allocation, and articulate that case internally in language that lands with finance, operations, and the board.
- Use AI with intent. Distinguish between AI as a compliance accelerator and AI as systems intelligence, and know which their organisation needs, when.
- Think with AI, not through it. Use AI as a thinking partner to stress-test assumptions, surface alternatives, and challenge weak reasoning, rather than letting it generate convincing answers that go unquestioned.
- Prioritise like an operator. Evaluate AI use cases against business value, strategic risk, and feasibility. Back the initiatives that have an owner, not the cleverest demo.
- Scrutinise tools and govern responsibly. Evaluate AI tools and the evidence behind their claims, and apply responsible AI principles to manage risk, safety, accuracy, and trust, particularly in regulated and assurance-driven contexts where the cost of being wrong is reputational.
By the end of the programme, participants will have:
- A sustainability strategy lens grounded in long-term value creation, anchored in the 7 Principles of a Sustainable Company, and stress-tested against their business context.
- A working AI prototype built around a real sustainability question from their own organisation — not a generic demo. Something they can iterate on with their team and put in front of their CFO or executive committee.
- Three concrete AI × sustainability initiatives mapped to their organisation: one value-protection (Adapt), one value-creation (Thrive), and one strategic option (Catalyse) to explore. Each with an owner, a 90-day plan, and a governance logic that has been tested with peers.
- A structured way to evaluate and prioritise AI use cases against business value, strategic risk, and feasibility — including a tool scrutiny framework for regulated and assurance-driven contexts.
- A 90-day execution plan, defended in front of faculty and peers, and revisited at the Day 60 clinic.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
- Next Course Starts On 29 October 2026 (Thursday)See Full Schedule
- Duration29, 30 October 2026 (2 days)
- LevelIntermediate
- VenueCBD
Learning Objectives
- Understand how sustainability strategy is linked to business value
- Understand how AI changes sustainability decision-making in complex systems
- Know which AI tools to use, when, and why
- Turn data into insight, and insight into decisions
- Embed AI and sustainability into real workflows
- Apply responsible AI principles to manage risk, safety, accuracy, and trust
- Use AI as a critical thought partner without outsourcing judgment
Topics/Structure
From Complexity to Strategic Clarity
- Session 1: AI, Complexity & the 7 Principles of a Sustainable Company
- Session 2: AI & Sustainability Fundamentals (Executive-Grade)
- Session 3: Mapping Sustainability to Business Value and Capital Allocation
- Session 4: Applying GenAI to Sustainability Strategy (Hands-On)
- Session 5: Create your own AI Led Prototype
From Insight to Impact
- Session 6: Deep Dive Use Cases (by Value Mode) - Adapt, Thrive, Catalyse
- Session 7: Tools Selection Under Strategic Constraints
- Session 8: Strategic Risk & Reputational Exposure
- Session 9: Designing High-Value AI × Sustainability Initiatives
- Session 10: 90-Day Action Plan
Sixty days after the programme ends, the cohort reconvenes for a structured peer-and-faculty checkpoint.
Each participant presents in a fixed format: what has moved, what has stalled, the top decision they are facing. Peers and faculty challenge the reasoning, surface what is being missed, and pressure-test the next moves.
The clinic exists because a fixed date in the diary changes how participants spend the 60 days that precede it. What participants do with that time is theirs to own. The clinic is the mechanism that creates the accountability — not a substitute for it.
Who Should Attend
This programme is designed for senior leaders and operators with budget authority and decision-making proximity over sustainability and AI in their organisations:
- P&L and business unit leaders connecting sustainability to long-term profitability and capital allocation.
- Heads of sustainability and ESG moving their function from reporting to strategic value.
- Heads of supply chain, procurement, operations, and innovation framing sustainability as resilience and AI as the lever to act on it across the function.
- PE operating partners and portfolio sustainability leads evaluating AI-enabled sustainability as a value-creation lever in diligence and holding.
- Senior sustainability and ESG consultants advising clients with the rigour and evidence the moment demands.
Key Faculty
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Testimonials
- Overall Rating: 4.8 out of 5
Sustainability is a complex and yet simple concept. The blend of AI and sustainability supports it, we can be the change agents, making a difference”
I think this is a very high impact class for senior leaders. Leaders that effectively leverage AI will be the leaders in their markets/industries in the coming decade. Arnaud and Justin form a perfect tag team to cover both key topics. Sorouch from Schneider, grounds the delivery to reality and the practicality of delivering impactful results in the real world.”
Great mix of academic, practitioner, un-filtered and pragmatic view on AI for sustainability. Great course and well-selected audience of participants to go through the learning experience together. Thank you everyone!”
Arnaud, Sorouch, and Justin delivered a very well-curated programme that connected sustainability principles with practical AI applications.”
As a professional not formally trained in sustainability, the session gave me a comprehensive overview before diving into real-world challenges and AI-enabled reporting solutions. I particularly appreciated how the instructors highlighted both opportunities and ethical considerations when using AI, promoting responsibility and integrity. The class met my expectations perfectly and inspired me to explore how AI can support data-driven, sustainable procurement and project reporting in the real estate industry. I would highly recommend this programme to anyone keen to understand the intersection of AI, sustainability, and practical business impact.”
I came in as a beginner and left with a solid framework for sustainability plus concrete tools to turn ideas into projects at work. The AI component is refreshingly practical, demonstrating step-by-step how to apply AI to real tasks and decisions.”
I really appreciated how the class empowered us with practical, immediately applicable skills that led to tangible results. It was so rewarding to walk away with outputs we could use straight away. Fantastic session leads - the lessons shared will benefit participants well beyond sustainability use cases.“
Fees and Funding
SGD 2,943
(inclusive of 9% GST)*
SGD 2,700
(excluding 9% GST)*
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 1 October 2026, 5pm (SGT GMT+8)
*Fee is subject to change. GST applies to individuals and Singapore-registered companies.
** Fee is subject to change. GST is not applicable to foreign based companies.
For More Information:
Email: exd@smu.edu.sg
Schedule
Start Date(s):
Intake Information :29, 30 October 2026