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They also need to work well with tech teams, speaking both languages.
Sustainability professionals are being asked to use their skills across the business. The sector is maturing quickly. Every sector is seeing a rapid pace of change and sustainability is at the forefront. There’ s also an increased focus on producing data that is auditable to the same standard as financial data. Sustainability professionals have always wanted rigor, but organisations are being held to account, so that rigor is now a larger part of the job.
Is AI literacy now part of the toolkit? I don’ t think it’ s mandatory, but it’ s really helpful. If I were advising people on skills to develop, I’ d say get yourhead around AI.
Teams aren’ t growing like before. Some are shrinking a bit but not hugely. Like every sector, there’ s an expectation of greater output with the same resources and AI helps. So, yes, people need to figure out how to use it.
It’ s also pertinent for sustainability professionals to know how AI can be used because it’ s power-hungry and water-hungry. Most people in this sector want to make a positive impact. If you know how to use AI efficiently you’ ll create fewer queries, use it less and take that knowledge into the business. Prompt creation, language, knowing what tools exist and which are appropriate are useful skills.
Beyond that, core skills aren’ t going away. Communication remains vital.
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