Transformative Reporting: The Power of Collaborative Innovation in Sustainability
Connected, intelligent reporting creates value by reducing costs, utilizing AI, enhancing decision making, and preparing for compliance.
From Excel to Excellence
Sustainability reporting is no longer a mere obligation, but rather a point where technology, finance, and strategy meet to drive business performance. Navigating complexities to organize data, operational structures, and processes turns disclosure into a strategic tool to create business advantages while satisfying regulatory expectations—and lays a foundation to leverage AI to drive insights and progress strategies.
Or, you could continue consolidating Excel spreadsheets and requesting sustainability data through sprawling email chains.
Backbone with Bite: Using Data for Dynamic Decisions
As reporting under CSRD, ISSB, and California and other state acts evolve, financial and non-financial reporting obligations are converging. The real challenge is not in individual KPIs but fragmented data landscapes. Sustainability data often sits within multiple entities and isolated systems and spreadsheets, with inconsistencies, missing or weak controls, and high manual effort to source and manage. This can lead to missed opportunities for insights from combinations of financial and non-financial data that drive business performance improvement.
SAP is already embedded in the core architecture of many global organizations. Leveraging this, KPMG has enabled companies to extend SAP’s solution capabilities – and the enterprise data within them – into sustainability data architecture, automating reporting through the SAP Sustainability Suite. SAP’s Sustainability Control Tower consolidates data company-wide, featuring AI-supported reporting templates that facilitate compliance and integrate sustainability data with core enterprise operations.
Real-world examples, like at KNAPP, highlight the ability of the SAP system to enhance strategic planning and decision-making and unlock value beyond compliance, using AI. As noted by Sophia Mendelsohn, Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer, SAP: “We all know AI is only as good as the data it can ingest and no data set is good and complete without considering sustainability attributes. That's because every business, every product, every service depends on natural resource inputs and a stable climate.” (source)
When Automation Knocks at the Door, Seamless Integration Unlocks Potential
Forward looking, market leading companies are moving toward connected, intelligent reporting that strengthens accountability, transparency, and trust. And that’s where Workiva comes in to bring together financial and non-financial data in a secure, audit-ready environment. KPMG LLPs works with organizations to use Workiva’s embedded, specialized AI and agentic capabilities to accelerate reporting and allow teams to draft, validate, and assure disclosures faster and with greater accuracy – within a platform that organizations already trust for critical work.
“True resilience requires trust – in your data, your processes, and your technology,” said Julie Iskow, CEO of Workiva. “The Workiva platform gives leaders that trust. When data, reporting, and AI all operate in a secure, controlled, auditable environment, organizations can move faster, adapt with confidence, and stay resilient in the face of constant change.”
The reality is that organizations use more than one technology – and assessing and integrating those technologies is where KPMG LLP's comes in. KPMG LLP's experience and methodology help organizations map metrics across frameworks and optimize end-to-end sustainability reporting, bringing together the strength of Workiva’s unified platform and SAP’s enterprise data backbone.
Orchestrating for Integrated Business Performance
The future of sustainability brings together all the “organization O’s” – CIOs, CPOs, CDOs, CFOs, with the sustainability officers—for an AI-enabled ecosystem. KPMG orchestrates this ecosystem, working with the organization’s business leaders, workflow, and its reflection in the technical architecture. This shared, integrated environment enables what every organization is after: clean, accessible, and actionable data. And, it unlocks opportunities to dive into new use cases for unlocking value in areas like supply chain resilience, energy efficiency, and climate risk management with AI-powered insights, forecasting and modelling for strategic decision making.
Let’s talk less and do more!
Market leadership goes to those who recognize as early as possible that sustainability data is business data. Treating it with the same rigor as financial information creates long-term value through transparency and trust, efficiency through automation, and competitive advantages. "Technology transforms sustainability data into a resilience tool, enabling organizations to navigate challenges effectively. For today's leaders, resilience isn't just a focus—it's a necessity. Sustainability, supported by technology, keeps us prepared for what's ahead," Tegan Keele, US Sustainability Technology & Data Leader, KPMG.
For all corporate and sustainability leaders, the imperative is clear: embrace cross-functional collaboration to redefine reporting paradigms. The need is not just to address compliance but to capitalize on integrated technologies and clean data to unearth sustainable value for your organization. As KPMG, SAP, and Workiva continue to push the envelope, we invite forward-thinking leaders to join in this transformative journey, realizing the full potential of an AI-enabled, integrated reporting ecosystem.
The bottom line: Less Excel, more excellence. Innovation through integration is the key to sustainable business performance.
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