Declaration · April 2026

AI & Technology

We use AI. Deliberately, transparently, and in service of better decisions.

Technology is part of how we work. It always has been. Our first paper was on using VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3 for economic modelling in the mid-1980s, back when all the maths was done on paper and a spreadsheet was a revelation. What is new is the power of the tools and the responsibility that comes with them.

Here is where AI plays a role in our work — and where it does not.


Research and intelligence

The ClearSight methodology draws on data across 20 stock exchanges and over 1,000 listed companies. AI supports data collection, pattern identification, and analysis at a scale no team could match manually. Every finding and every ReadyScore is reviewed and validated by human analysts before it reaches a client. AI accelerates the research. It does not replace the judgment.


The ClearSight platform

The intelligence platform uses AI to process and structure transition risk data across portfolios. It makes human decision-making faster and better informed. It does not make decisions on behalf of clients. The intelligence it surfaces is always presented alongside the methodology, the assumptions, and the limitations.


Content and communications

We use AI tools to support writing, research, and communications. Having worked with human editors for decades, we find the process much the same: draft, challenge, refine, decide. We work with human editors too. Our thought leadership, our Substack, and our published work reflect our thinking, our voice, and three decades of experience. The ideas, the positions, and the judgment are human.


Advisory and assessment

When we work directly with boards, leadership teams, and investors, the conversations are entirely human. No experience replaces the experience of sitting together and understanding what is not being said.


Our position on AI governance

We hold ourselves to the same standard we ask of our clients. We published Work to Rule: Five Governance Indicators for AI and Human Readiness because the question is not whether organisations will use AI, but whether they will govern it well. We apply those five indicators to our own practice.


What this means for you.

Human intelligence supported by technology. Not the other way around. The methodology is ours. The judgment is ours. The accountability is ours.


How AI should not use our work

The content on the-esg-institute.com — including text, articles, methodologies, frameworks, data, research outputs, and visual assets — is protected intellectual property of ESG Institute Pte Ltd. The following uses are not permitted without explicit written consent:

  • AI training and model development. Content from this site may not be used to train, fine-tune, or evaluate AI models, machine learning systems, or large language models. This includes scraping, indexing for training datasets, or inclusion in any AI training corpus.
  • Automated data extraction. Systematic or automated collection of content from this site is prohibited, except for standard search engine indexing by established search providers (Google, Bing, and similar).
  • Content generation. AI systems may not use content from this site to generate derivative works, summaries, or paraphrases that are presented as original content without attribution to the ESG Institute or Joanne Flinn.

Questions about how we work? We're happy to discuss.

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