Technology leaders are emerging as the engine of sustainable execution, reveals Kearney

• Over 95% of CTOs are playing an active role in driving sustainability
• 84% of businesses consider sustainability in R&D decisions, yet only 38% embed it in standard decision-making frameworks
• Although AI is central to sustainability, over a third of CTOs (38%) cite data availability and quality as major barriers

LONDON, Jan. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainability has become a core technology responsibility with Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) embedding it across daily digital operations. New research from Kearney found that over 95% of CTOs are actively involved in driving sustainability, regardless of region or industry.

Kearney's new global study, Targets to Technology: How CTOs Are Rewiring Sustainability, is based on a survey of 600 Chief Technology Officers (or equivalent). It examines how sustainability has moved from a policy ambition to a practical technology challenge that affects costs and efficiency.

Energy leads sustainability investment

When asked where sustainability budgets are focused, CTOs consistently reported that energy dominates spending. CTOs are prioritizing renewable energy, energy efficiency, cloud optimization and AI-driven energy management, with energy efficiency delivering the strongest results to date.

This focus is driven by economics rather than ideology. Energy is measurable, controllable, and directly linked to operating costs, meaning reductions in energy use translate quickly into savings and margin improvements. In contrast, circularity ranks last for investment, reflecting weaker short-term business cases and slower returns.

Sustainability is influencing design, but not consistently

Sustainability is shaping technology strategy and R&D decisions, but not consistently. 84% of organizations include sustainability considerations in R&D investment evaluations, yet only 38% have formalized sustainability within their standard decision-making frameworks.

Where sustainability is embedded into formal frameworks, it acts as a design constraint, shaping architectures, vendor choices and long-term technology road maps. Where guidelines remain informal, sustainability considerations can undermine budget discipline, delivery speed and performance, increasing the risk of missed targets.

AI adoption outpaces readiness

AI is already central to sustainability efforts, but execution gaps persist. More than a third of CTOs (38%) cite data availability and quality as a major barrier, while 31% point to legacy infrastructure.

The study concludes that sustainability delivers the greatest impact when it is engineered, funded, and governed like core technology—not treated as an add-on.

Click here to read the full study.

Angela Hultberg, Global Sustainability Director at Kearney, said: "Our research shows CTOs are increasingly integrating sustainability into tech decisions, with AI as a great potential to accelerate sustainable solutions. It's not AI or sustainability - it's AI for sustainability. But success will depend on getting the prerequisites right. Scattered and incomplete data will become a problem when you use it to make decisions, even more so with AI. Garbage in - garbage out, as they say." 

Nigel Andrade, Partner and Chair of Kearney's Strategy, Growth, and Organisation Transformation practice, added: "The sustainability and technology agendas have clearly begun to overlap, with business economics at the intersect and CTOs as key actors. The data shows that the adoption of sustainable practices accelerates when it aligns with economics, which is very promising to see. As the sophistication of business cases increase, we will see more overlap, more agenda alignment – and more momentum."

Notes to editors

Methodology

In November 2025, Kearney surveyed 600 Chief Technology Officers (or equivalent) of global organizations, with an annual turnover of at least 1 billion USD, headquartered across eight countries: United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Germany, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India, and Japan.

About Kearney

Since 1926, Kearney has been a leading global management consulting firm and trusted partner to three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500 and governments worldwide. Operating in more than 40 countries, Kearney delivers impact-first consulting built on original thinking and a commitment to making change happen together with its clients.

Press contact 

Tom Stewart-Walvin
Rostrum – PR consultants to Kearney 
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SOURCE Kearney