How to Square the AI-Sustainability Paradox

Key Takeaways from the BTN ESG Summit Americas

Three years ago, every booth on the conference floor had “sustainability” front and center. This year? AI. Our industry loves theme, and themes ebb and flow. But sustainability and AI aren’t passing trends. They’re macro forces that will define the future of business travel. The real question isn’t which one wins. It’s how they converge.

That was the premise behind “How to Square the AI–Sustainability Paradox: Innovation in a Shifting Market,” a panel I had the privilege of moderating at the BTN ESG Summit Americas on June 3, 2026 featuring three CEOs whose companies started in the same place – sustainability – and took three very different paths.

• Adam Braun, CEO & Co-Founder, Clarasight
• Anna Rose Feinberg, Co-Founder & CEO, Alō Index
• Jeff Berk, CEO, Tripkicks

Though each company has taken a different approach, both sustainability and AI are core parts of each company’s DNA. Here are the main takeaways:

1. Without Clean Data, AI Is Just Expensive Noise

If there was one theme that cut across all three perspectives, it was this: data is the foundation. Before AI can deliver on its promise – whether that’s automating reporting, optimizing decisions, or scoring sustainability performance – you need clean, accurate, connected data.

Anna made a point that stuck with me: companies that set conservative, data- and strategy-driven sustainability goals in the early 2020s are now quietly delivering on them. The ones that set ambitious public targets without the data infrastructure to support them? They’re revising downward.

The lesson applies beyond sustainability. Whether you’re implementing AI-powered tools for cost management, traveler engagement, or emissions tracking, the question isn’t “how smart is the AI?” It’s “how good is the data feeding it?”

For travel managers evaluating new technology, this means asking harder questions during procurement: Where does your data come from? How is it verified? What happens when sources conflict? The companies solving the data fragmentation problem – not just layering AI on top of broken systems – are the ones creating real, lasting value.

2. AI Has a Sustainability Problem of Its Own (and that’s OK)

Here’s the paradox at the heart of the session title: AI consumes enormous resources. A typical AI-focused data center uses as much electricity as 100,000 households (IEA, Energy and AI). Global data center demand is expected to triple by 2030 (Salesforce, May 2026). Water consumption is projected to increase by 170% (Salesforce, May 2026). Critics argue that AI-powered products are making the sustainability problem worse, not better.

Our panelists didn’t shy away from this tension. But the counterargument they collectively made was compelling: the long-term efficiency gains can produce a net-positive outcome. If AI eliminates 90% of manual data work, reduces unnecessary travel through smarter forecasting, or optimizes booking decisions at scale, the system-wide savings may outweigh the infrastructure costs.

It’s not a free pass. Companies building AI products should be transparent about their own footprint. But the framing shouldn’t be “AI vs. sustainability.” It should be: “what’s the net outcome over time?”

3. Reporting and Policies Alone Don’t Drive Action

This was a common thread not just on our panel, but throughout the entire summit: a travel program can be perfectly designed on paper and still go nowhere if travelers aren’t engaged, informed, and supported in the moments that matter.

Jeff Berk put it bluntly: “great policies live in PDFs nobody opens.” Sustainability goals and cost targets are defined but often ignored at the moment of booking. The gap between program design and traveler behavior is where value is lost.

This is where AI and behavioral science can genuinely move the needle. Not by adding more reports for travel managers to pull, but by putting the right information in front of travelers at the right time: personalized, contextual, and measurable against program goals. The shift from “software as a service” to “outcome as a service” is real, and it’s what buyers should be demanding.

4. Sustainability is Not Disappearing

Perhaps the most reassuring takeaway from the day: sustainability hasn’t gone away; the language is shifting. Political winds have changed how some enterprises talk about ESG publicly, but the work continues.

The data tells a more complex story, though, and it’s one that’s evolved significantly in just a few years. In 2022, Accenture found that 93% of the world’s largest companies would fail to meet their net zero targets without at least doubling their rate of emissions reductions by 2030 (Accenture, “Accelerating Global Companies toward Net Zero by 2050,” November 2022). That was alarming enough on its own. But since then, AI has added an entirely new variable to the equation.

A 2026 study from BearingPoint found that while 95% of organizations now have structured climate plans or SBTi commitments, 37% are already experiencing delays in achieving them, and AI is a contributing factor. Digital technologies currently account for less than 5% of corporate emissions for most companies, but 38% of organizations expect AI’s carbon footprint to increase by more than 30% in the coming years (BearingPoint, “Achieving Environmental Goals in the AI Era,” April 2026).

The paradox is clear: AI is simultaneously one of the most powerful tools for accelerating sustainability (i.e. optimizing energy use, improving supply chain efficiency, enabling better reporting) and a growing source of the very emissions companies are trying to reduce.

Top Takeaways for Travel Managers

If you’re navigating the intersection of AI, sustainability, and program strategy, here’s what I’d take away from this conversation:

• Audit your data before you adopt AI. The most sophisticated tool in the world can’t fix fragmented, unverified inputs. Start with the foundation.
• Embed sustainability data into everyday operational decision-making. The tools and data you need to measure and communicate sustainability progress are more important than ever, precisely because the landscape is more complex, and shouldn’t be a separate reporting exercise.
• Ask vendors about net outcomes, not features. What measurable result does this produce for my program? Not what does it do, but instead what does it deliver?
• Don’t abandon sustainability because the language is changing. The work matters more than the label. Find partners who are still doing the work, regardless of what they call it. Don’t mistake a shift in language for a shift in commitment.
• Engage travelers at the moment of decision. Policies set direction. Technology at the point of booking drives behavior. Close the gap.
• Accept the paradox. AI costs resources today. It can save more tomorrow. Hold both truths and evaluate accordingly.

Looking Ahead

The convergence of AI and sustainability in business travel is still early. The companies on this panel represent three viable strategies: staying pure, pivoting broadly, or integrating incrementally; and the market hasn’t yet decided which wins. What’s clear is that the buyers who ask the sharpest questions, demand the cleanest data, and focus on outcomes over buzzwords will be the ones who make meaningful progress.

I’m grateful to Adam, Anna, and Jeff for a conversation that went beyond talking points, and to Business Travel News for creating space for it. If you’re thinking about these themes and want to explore what they mean for your program, reach out to Festive Road; this is exactly the kind of strategic challenge we love to dig into.