Sustainability Forum Middle East was delighted to convene a high-level roundtable, co-hosted with Aramco, on “AI for Sustainability: How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Sustainability Strategies” on December 2, 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Al Khobar Hotel, Saudi Arabia.

As AI continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, it is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful enablers in the global response to sustainability goals. From optimizing energy consumption to forecasting emissions, streamlining sustainability reporting, and protecting biodiversity, AI is no longer a distant frontier — it is actively reshaping how businesses, governments, and ecosystems respond to the urgent demands of sustainability.

The roundtable convened leaders from the energy, technology, and environmental sectors to explore real-world applications of AI — and how its integration can help bridge the persistent gap between sustainability ambition and implementation. The discussion further highlighted how MENA economies, including Saudi Arabia, are working to harness AI as a tool to accelerate their net-zero ambitions for 2050 and 2060.

At the same time, the adoption of AI comes with challenges. The successful scaling of AI solutions requires substantial investment, the availability of robust datasets, cross-sector collaboration, and regulatory alignment. Moreover, the growing energy intensity of AI itself — especially in large model training and data center operations — raises important questions about how to deploy these technologies responsibly within a carbon-constrained world.

The session took a 360-degree look at both the transformative potential and practical complexities of leveraging AI to power sustainability — examining what is working, where gaps remain, and how the region can lead in shaping a sustainable digital future. The roundtable focused on four core areas: Energy Optimisation, Industrial Emissions Forecasting, Sustainability Reporting, and Biodiversity Monitoring. Each of these areas offers compelling examples of how AI is already being deployed to drive measurable outcomes and how it may scale to deliver broader systemic impact in the years ahead.