Firms should use data to drive ESG narratives

KUALA LUMPUR: Companies should utilise the data that artificial intelligence (AI) leverages on to create better narratives for their environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, says publiCT.io founder and chief executive officer Manminder Kaur Dhillon.

Manminder said businesses in Malaysia are on the cusp of innovation and have many ways to tell the stories they want to.

“There are some companies that have strategies and stories to tell but they don’t know where to start. This is why having a platform that is data-driven and able to give you pointers on what to do next is important,” she said at the launch of ESGNewslytics.AI here yesterday.

Manminder said the ESGNewslytics.AI is the first of its kind platform in Malaysia and possibly even in the world, whereby companies can gather data points, find content and learn how to use the proper keywords in narratives.

She added that for now, the targeted group will be public-listed companies (PLCs).

“We look forward to seeing how they might use the correct narratives to drive their ESG agendas further. Other countries are leading the way in this, Singapore being a good example,” she said.

Manminder said Malaysia needs to build better narratives so the nation can continue on its journey to becoming a leader in sustainability.

“We hope this platform will soon enough become a catalyst for PLC’s to start paving the way for this agenda. Right now, only 1% of PLC’s are looking at narrative building, while the rest focus on strategies,” she said.

On whether the platform’s AI technology in building narratives will eventually lead to the elimination of humans to do the writing, Manminder said that is unlikely.

“The platform will merely recommend a story idea or different keywords to use. Then it is up to the company to come up with what it wants to say based on its strategy. This won’t eliminate writers but rather make it easier for the media to gain access to valuable content,” she said.

Meanwhile, during the panel discussion, CelcomDigi Bhd head of sustainability Philip Ling said ESG initiatives and strategies must go hand-in-hand.

He said there is plenty of misinformation and greenwashing that takes place, so it takes a lot of thinking through the narrative to reach a goal.

Manminder said while greenwashing has become more evident these days, businesses should be careful not to oversell the same information or narrative.

“What we see on a day-to-day basis is either companies love to singularly or consistently talk about the same thing repeatedly. So that’s where they fall into that pit of greenwashing – they overdo it without using data. Data can guide them to create that impact, that powerful narrative.”