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      According to the World Economic Forum, nearly 70 percent of new economic value created over the next decade will come from digital platforms. At the fifth Power of ESG event, ESG District, KPMG and BNP Paribas Fortis brought together start-ups and established companies at the Wintercircus in Ghent to explore what that shift means in practice. One question stood at the heart of the conversation: how can businesses ensure that technology not only delivers a strong business case, but also contributes to a more sustainable society?

      “AI? That’s 10 percent technology and 90 percent people,” says Anthony Belpaire, Head of AI at BNP Paribas Fortis. “Technology is merely an enabler. The real power lies with the people using it. Success comes from bringing people along in the transformation, not just from building smarter systems. At our organization, we see AI not simply as an upgrade, but as a reinvention of how we work.”

      BNP Paribas Fortis applies AI across three key domains: customers, internal, and employees. This technology helps accelerate millions of customer interactions, automates administrative tasks, and empowers employees with tools such as Yara, its internal AI assistant.

      “We do not want a workplace where some people use AI while others are left behind,” says Belpaire. “Everyone should be able to operate at the same level.” At the same time, responsible AI adoption is essential. “Our AI processes must be transparent and explainable. That is why human oversight remains indispensable.”

      Sustainable AI

      That AI is climbing rapidly up the sustainability agenda is also reflected in the recent CSO survey conducted by KPMG in Belgium among Chief Sustainability Officers in Belgium and Luxembourg. The findings show that a majority of CSOs view technology, data, and AI as essential enablers in addressing today’s sustainability challenges.

      Vanessa De Waele, Group General Counsel & Sustainability Director at team.blue, a provider of web hosting and cloud computing services, also emphasizes that responsibility must remain central. “Anyone experimenting with AI must take ownership of its impact. That includes energy consumption, but also social impact, trust, and responsible use.”

      According to De Waele, sustainable AI cannot be achieved from within a single department or function. At team.blue, sustainability, technology, data, security, and legal teams work together toward the same goal. “By organizing AI centrally, we are able to measure, monitor, and continuously optimize. Only then can we improve resource efficiency over time and reduce our overall impact.”

      “Technology is the instrument but data is the real superpower,” says De Waele. “Today, critical data is scattered across companies and data centers. If we can combine that data securely, it creates a powerful lever for sustainability.”

      Michael Wagemans
      Michael Wagemans

      Partner, Head of Sustainability | Advisory

      KPMG in Belgium

      Anyone experimenting with AI must take ownership of its impact. That includes energy consumption, but also social impact, trust, and responsible use.

      Vanessa De Waele

      Group General Counsel & Sustainability Director

      team.blue

      Sharing data

      Kube is one such data-sharing platform for ESG data, developed by Karomia, Isabel Group, and Belgium’s four major banks. It enables companies to centralize their ESG and sustainability data in a standardized and secure way. “Our platform, now used by all public investment companies, structures and shares ESG data across an expanding ecosystem of banks, investors, and businesses,” explains Jens Verhiest, co-founder of Karomia.

      Through Kube, ESG data is not only easier to exchange, it also carries greater weight in decision-making, particularly in risk analysis and climate modelling. “Instead of fragmented reporting, a centralized system emerges in which companies can securely share their sustainability data across the entire value chain,” says Verhiest.

      More efficient data centers

      Although data is digital, physical data centers remain essential to store, process, and make it available. With the rise of AI, that demand is only increasing further. Data centers are often criticized for their high energy consumption, but according to Laurens van Reijen, Managing Director at LCL Data Centers, the sector is investing heavily in more efficient technologies.

      We use closed-loop water systems today, which means no external water is needed for cooling. The system operates entirely in a reusable cycle.

      Laurens van Reijen

      Managing Director

      LCL Data Centers

      The company also looks beyond its own sites and invests in renewable energy through partnerships with farmers. “We are developing wind energy projects where agricultural businesses can use their rooftops, while LCL invests in local wind production through long-term contracts.”

      According to van Reijen, this approach creates a dual benefit: reduced environmental pressure from data centers and additional, stable, income streams for agricultural businesses.

      Digital twins

      Start-ups also play a key role in the sustainable deployment of AI. “Young companies are pushing the boundaries of what is technologically and socially possible, often with a strong focus on climate impact and efficiency gains,” says Dorien Van Steenberge, CEO of Wintercircus.

      The growing creative hub for start-ups helped push Ghent to tenth place this year in an international ranking of leading technology cities, based on innovation per capita.

      The Wintercircus also hosts AM-Team, a spin-off from Ghent University. The company supports 120 customers across 24 countries in making water treatment facilities more efficient through AI-driven digital twins. The result is reduced energy and chemical use, improved water quality, and lower emissions.

      CEO and co-founder Wim Audenaert stresses that innovation only lasts when it also makes economic sense. “There has to be a business case. Our clients don’t just want to reduce emissions; they also want to operate more cost-efficiently.”

      According to Audenaert, this is essential to making sustainable technology scalable. At the same time, he points to the sometimes-slow adoption of new solutions. “You cannot force the market. If companies do not see the problem, they will not pay for the solution. Then you need patience. The path from pilot projects to large-scale adoption can easily take ten to fifteen years.”

      AI helps us do that by translating thousands of interactions into actionable policy insights.

      Ellen Batens

      COO Go Vocal

      Smarter use of the grid

      Collaboration between start-ups and established companies can significantly accelerate innovation, says Tom Defruyt, Head of Innovation at energy company Eneco. “We are running pilot projects with companies such as Nox and Powernaut to intelligently control heat pumps and batteries. This helps better balance supply and demand and makes the grid more efficient.”

      Defruyt sees strong potential in these partnerships, but feels progress is being held back by policy. “Electrification and the phase-out of gas are moving too slowly. There is a lack of incentives and a clear roadmap for phasing out fossil heating systems. In Belgium, gas boilers can still be freely replaced, while neighboring countries have already banned this.”

      He also points to European plans for lower electricity bills through smart meters and smarter grid usage. “That is a good example of tech for good: not laying more cables but using what we already have more intelligently.”

      Digital democracy

      For civic platform, Go Vocal, tech for good is also about strengthening trust between citizens and public institutions. The company aims to support local democracy by involving citizens more systematically in policymaking through digital participation tools.

      “Our platform enables governments to consult residents through surveys and polls. The input is then analyzed and fed back into the policy process,” says COO Ellen Batens. The company now works with more than 600 public authorities.

      At the same time, Go Vocal is developing AI solutions to make participation projects more efficient and effective. “Ultimately, we want citizen participation to flow naturally into policymaking, not as an exception but as the norm,” Batens says. “AI helps us do that by translating thousands of interactions into actionable policy insights.”

      This article was created in collaboration with De Tijd and L'Echo.

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