IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Sustainability/ESG 2025 Predictions

IDC FutureScape Figure

• Figure: IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Sustainability/ESG 2025 Top 10 Predictions

Executive Summary

IDC FutureScape Predictions

• Summary of External Drivers

• Responsible and Human-Centric Technology — Ethics in the Enterprise Predictions: Impact on Technology Buyers

• Prediction 1: By the year 2026, 60% of organizations will leverage generative AI to develop more granular and operationally focused sustainable transformation strategies.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 2: By 2028, due to the growing complexity of carbon accounting and supply chain decarbonization, 70% of organizations will only partner with IT vendors that have a robust services/software partner ecosystem.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 3: By 2027, 25% of organizations will leverage AI platforms to create a digital twin of their supply chain to enable analysis of potential climate and weather-related risk.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 4: By 2026, 80% of the world's largest enterprises will report their supply chain emissions and have visibility to their Tier 1 suppliers allowing them to gather 35% of their Scope 3 emissions.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 5: By 2026, 60% of enterprises will implement Sustainable AI Frameworks, leveraging data-driven decisions to scale AI operations across datacenter locations while meeting decarbonization goals.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Business Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 6: By 2027, 75% of customers will expect CO2 emissions data on everything from build, operate and disposition of their IT assets to assist with their overall corporate sustainable goals.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Business Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 7: By 2027, 75% of customers will multiply their IT infrastructure efficiency and cost-effectiveness by leveraging various FinOps and GreenOps instruments.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Business Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 8: By 2027, 80% of IT buyers will only work with vendors that meet social, environmental, and governance-related responsible AI criteria in accordance with sustainable procurement requirements.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Business Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 9: By 2028, in 60% of organizations the Chief Ethics/Sustainability Officer will have joined the central AI data governance group or the AI Center of Excellence.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 10: By 2028, 35% of industry ecosystems will utilize collaborative AI solutions to embed sustainability into the decision-making process, leading to a 15% reduction in resource consumption.

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

Advice for Technology Buyers

External Drivers: Detail

• The Drive to Automate — Toward a Data-Driven Future

• Future-Proofing Against Environmental Risks — ESG Operationalization and Risk Management

• AI-Driven Workplace Transformation — Building Tomorrow's Workforce Today

• Regulatory Flux — Navigating Compliance Challenges in a Shifting Policy Landscape

• Geoeconomic Reordering — Rethinking Globalization, Supply Chains, and Macroeconomic Challenges

• Responsible and Human-Centric Technology — Ethics in the Enterprise

• Battling Against Technical Debt — Overcoming Hurdles to IT Modernization

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• Related Research