Mid-Year Report: How Our 2025 ESG Predictions Are Playing Out
This summer, we’re checking back in on our TechArena predictions for 2025 to see how they are holding up. We’re starting with Vernon Turner’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) predictions for multinational corporations (MNCs). Based on his performance, so far, we’re giving our predictions high marks.
Prediction #1: Innovation at Risk
Status: CONFIRMED
Turner warned about regulatory confusion stifling ESG software investment, innovation, and strategic flexibility, and it seems to have happened. In a survey of 125 large MNCs, 80% of respondents reported they were adjusting their ESG strategies in 2025 and 75% said they expected the shifts would “slow down” decarbonization efforts.
Prediction #2: AI as the ESG Game-Changer
Status: ACCELERATING
New projections show that this prediction is right on track. AI adoption in ESG is now expected to grow at 28.2% compound annual growth rate through 2034. Companies are still facing regulatory frameworks demanding ESG data transparency and compliance, and AI offers a tantalizing path for automating data collection and reporting.
Prediction #3: Data Science and Analytics Expansion
Status: IN PROGRESS
While the US regulatory scene is chaotic, MNCs answer to other regulators as well. The EU is working to rewrite its Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive to make it less burdensome, but companies still need to prepare for reporting requirements in some form. That makes the hunt for ESG data scientists and reporting solutions urgent.
The Mid-Year TechArena Take
While regulatory chaos creates uncertainty, it’s also creating real opportunities in ESG tech infrastructure. Companies need robust, automated systems more than ever to navigate this fragmented landscape. We expect to see more tech investments in this area, even as ESG investment overall slows down, as we head into the back half of 2025.
This summer, we’re checking back in on our TechArena predictions for 2025 to see how they are holding up. We’re starting with Vernon Turner’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) predictions for multinational corporations (MNCs). Based on his performance, so far, we’re giving our predictions high marks.
Prediction #1: Innovation at Risk
Status: CONFIRMED
Turner warned about regulatory confusion stifling ESG software investment, innovation, and strategic flexibility, and it seems to have happened. In a survey of 125 large MNCs, 80% of respondents reported they were adjusting their ESG strategies in 2025 and 75% said they expected the shifts would “slow down” decarbonization efforts.
Prediction #2: AI as the ESG Game-Changer
Status: ACCELERATING
New projections show that this prediction is right on track. AI adoption in ESG is now expected to grow at 28.2% compound annual growth rate through 2034. Companies are still facing regulatory frameworks demanding ESG data transparency and compliance, and AI offers a tantalizing path for automating data collection and reporting.
Prediction #3: Data Science and Analytics Expansion
Status: IN PROGRESS
While the US regulatory scene is chaotic, MNCs answer to other regulators as well. The EU is working to rewrite its Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive to make it less burdensome, but companies still need to prepare for reporting requirements in some form. That makes the hunt for ESG data scientists and reporting solutions urgent.
The Mid-Year TechArena Take
While regulatory chaos creates uncertainty, it’s also creating real opportunities in ESG tech infrastructure. Companies need robust, automated systems more than ever to navigate this fragmented landscape. We expect to see more tech investments in this area, even as ESG investment overall slows down, as we head into the back half of 2025.
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