Chess has seen a remarkable rise in popularity, reaching a milestone on February 1, 2025, when Chess.com surpassed 200 million members, showcasing its growing global influence. This growing interest in the game has not only fostered a larger competitive community but has also opened doors for chess to create real-world impact, particularly in underserved communities around the globe.

Reach out to discuss this topic in depth.

How chess benefits underserved communities

Chess serves as a compelling case study of how a growing industry can drive social and economic benefits for underserved populations. The game requires minimal resources to play, making it accessible to individuals in even the most disadvantaged regions.

Moreover, its emphasis on strategy, problem-solving, and resilience aligns with skills that are crucial in today’s workforce. As chess expands globally—through online platforms, competitive tournaments, and educational programs—it is creating new career pathways, scholarships, and workforce development opportunities.

Unlike many industries that require substantial infrastructure or investment, chess proves that intellectual capital alone can foster economic mobility. From coaching and streaming to content creation and tournament organization, the growing chess ecosystem is generating employment prospects while simultaneously uplifting disadvantaged communities.

Real-world examples of chess empowering underserved communities

SOM Chess Academy (Uganda)

Founded by Robert Katende, the SOM Chess Academy has introduced chess to at-risk youth, helping them develop critical thinking skills, resilience, and a pathway to economic empowerment. One of its most inspiring success stories is that of Phiona Mutesi, who rose from the slums of Kampala to international recognition through chess.

Mutesi’s journey exemplifies how structured chess training can unlock economic mobility. Through the academy, she gained access to education, scholarships, and global opportunities. Her chess skills not only enabled her to travel the world but also provided her with employment prospects and a platform to inspire future generations.

Chess in Slums Africa

This initiative is dedicated to teaching chess to children in low-income communities, helping them develop cognitive skills and access educational opportunities. Many participants have secured scholarships, proving that chess can serve as a gateway to skill-building, personal development, and social mobility.

The Gift of Chess Initiative

A global movement that distributes chess sets to schools, prisons, and refugee camps, The Gift of Chess fosters education, rehabilitation, and inclusion. By providing access to chess, the initiative empowers individuals to develop strategic thinking, patience, and discipline—skills that translate into broader career opportunities.

FIDE’s “Chess for Freedom” Program

FIDE, the international chess federation, has launched an initiative aimed at teaching chess to inmates and refugees. The program has demonstrated that chess can improve cognitive abilities, provide structure, and offer career-building opportunities for those seeking reintegration into society.

How industries and organizations can get involved

The success of chess in uplifting undeserved communities presents a model that industries and organizations can adopt to drive meaningful talent development. Businesses in digital services, education and workforce training can integrate similar initiatives into their core talent strategies, creating sustainable pathways for skill-building and economic mobility.

Technology sector

Companies in the technology industry can incorporate chess-based training into their workforce development programs. For example, Google and Microsoft have invested in coding boot camps and artificial intelligence (AI) training programs that prioritize problem-solving and computational thinking—skills also cultivated by chess. Integrating chess into digital literacy programs can also further enhance critical thinking abilities for tech-oriented roles.

Education and scholarships

Universities and scholarship foundations can utilize chess-based assessments to identify students with strong cognitive and analytical skills. Programs like the Chess-in-Schools initiative have shown that students who play chess perform better in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, making them ideal candidates for scholarships in science, engineering, and technology fields.

Corporate professional development

Organizations across industries can integrate chess-inspired training into professional development programs to enhance critical workplace skills. Strategic decision-making, analytical thinking, and pattern recognition, which are core competencies in chess, are also essential in leadership, financial analysis, and operational strategy. Companies like Deloitte and McKinsey value structured problem-solving in leadership training, while firms like Renaissance Technologies emphasize strategic forecasting.

By incorporating chess-based exercises into talent development initiatives, industries can build a stronger and more diverse talent pipeline, equipping individuals with transferable skills for digital services, AI training, and other knowledge-based roles. This approach drives both business success and economic inclusion.

Chess, cognitive skills, and the future of tech services

The technology services sector thrives on problem-solving, adaptability, and strategic thinking—all skills that chess cultivates. As businesses increasingly rely on data analytics, AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation, the ability to recognize patterns, anticipate challenges, and make strategic decisions is more critical than ever.

Chess-based training provides a structured approach to developing these cognitive skills, making individuals more prepared for roles in AI model training, process automation, data annotation, and Information Technology (IT) support.

The same cognitive skills honed through chess can be leveraged to upskill impact sourcing professionals, enabling them to take on more complex, high-value tasks in the tech services industry.

Impact sourcing—hiring and developing individuals from marginalized communities—offers a sustainable and socially responsible approach to workforce expansion while providing businesses with a diverse, resilient, and highly capable talent pool.

Everest Group has committed to significantly expanding the impact sourcing workforce—connecting hundreds of thousands of marginalized individuals to new job opportunities.

Through research, enablement tools, and best practices, as well as engagement with enterprises, service providers, governments, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Everest Group is leading the charge in advancing social impact initiatives.

Everest Group’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Pledge

In 2022, Everest Group outlined a Commitment to Action to grow the impact sourcing market from 350,000 full-time equivalents (FTEs) to 500,000 within three years.

Remarkably, this goal was achieved in just two years, fueling a new ambition: to scale the impact sourcing workforce to 1 million by 2030.

This rapid progress highlights the power of innovative approaches to workforce development. Chess is more than just a game—it is a powerful tool for empowerment, a catalyst for social mobility, and a means to break cycles of poverty.

The same strategic thinking, problem-solving, and adaptability that define chess can be applied to upskilling impact sourcing talent, preparing them for knowledge-intensive roles in the digital economy.

By integrating these principles into workforce development, industries can create meaningful economic opportunities, drive long-term social change, and cultivate a more skilled and adaptable workforce.

If you found this blog interesting, check out our Where Sustainability Unites: Climate Week NYC, UNGA, And CGI blog, which delves deeper into another topic regarding impact sourcing and Everest Group’s CGI pledge.

If your organization is interested in joining this initiative or signing the pledge, please reach out to Rita Soni at rita.soni@everestgrp.com, Ankur Verma at ankur.verma@everestgrp.com, or Sidhaant Nagpal at sidhaant.nagpal@everestgrp.com.

In the era of rapidly evolving consumer preferences, swift technology advances, and increased environmental consciousness, sustainability has become vital for engineering firms. In response, companies have been altering their product value chains and processes to align them with essential sustainability goals. Companies are significantly spending their R&D budgets on sustainability, from developing electric vehicles and alternative fuels to changing engineering designs to make circular products. What began as sustainability in engineering has now evolved into engineering for sustainability.

In this sustainability endeavor, enterprises seek providers’ support to implement greener engineering strategies. These providers offer innovative product development, process engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain solutions, helping enterprises launch sustainable products, enhance operational efficiency, reduce emissions, and achieve broader sustainability goals.

• Sustainable Engineering Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025

  

  In this report, we examine the current sustainable engineering services market, highlighting trends and key drivers shaping demand-supply dynamics. The report analyzes 17 sustainable engineering service providers based on their service focus, key IP/solutions, domain investments, and demonstrated market proof points.

  Scope

  • All industries and geographies
  • This assessment is based on Everest Group’s annual RFI process for the calendar year 2024, interactions with leading sustainable engineering service providers, client reference checks, and an ongoing analysis of the sustainability services market

  Contents

  In this report, we:

  • Explore the sustainable engineering services market
  • Examine key factors and technologies shaping the sustainable engineering services market
  • Analyze buyer adoption trends
  • Assess sustainable engineering service providers’ capabilities

  READ ON

What is the PEAK Matrix®?

The PEAK Matrix® provides an objective, data-driven assessment of service and technology providers based on their overall capability and market impact across different global services markets, classifying them into three categories: Leaders, Major Contenders, and Aspirants.

LEARN MORE ABOUT Top Service Providers

As businesses navigate a rapidly evolving technology landscape, sustainable IT has become a key focus for organizations to minimize their environmental impact. IT infrastructure is a significant emission source, making sustainable practices essential. Advanced technologies, such as generative AI, bring new challenges with their intensive energy demands for high-performance computing and storage. Adding to the complexity, organizations must address hidden emissions, particularly Scope 3 emissions from public and hybrid cloud solutions, which are difficult to measure and manage.

Addressing these challenges requires collaboration with credible IT service providers who can implement innovative strategies to reduce emissions, optimize IT estates, and enhance operational efficiencies. Sustainable IT is no longer a peripheral concern but a business imperative for organizations to balance environmental stewardship with technology advances. Enterprises must select partners who integrate sustainability principles in IT solutions and offer IT decarbonization, sustainable software development, sustainable digital workplace, and circular IT services.

• Sustainable IT Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025

  

  In this report, we explore the current sustainable IT services market, highlighting the trends and key drivers shaping demand-supply dynamics. The report analyzes 21 sustainability IT service providers based on their service focus, key IP/solutions, domain investments, and demonstrated market proof points.

  Scope

  • All industries and geographies
  • This assessment is based on Everest Group’s annual RFI process for the calendar year 2024, interactions with leading sustainable IT service providers, client reference checks, and an ongoing analysis of the sustainability services market

  Contents

  In this report, we

  • Explore the sustainable IT services market
  • Examine key factors and technologies shaping the sustainable IT services market
  • Analyze buyer adoption trends
  • Assess sustainable IT service providers’ capabilities

  READ ON

What is the PEAK Matrix®?

The PEAK Matrix® provides an objective, data-driven assessment of service and technology providers based on their overall capability and market impact across different global services markets, classifying them into three categories: Leaders, Major Contenders, and Aspirants.

LEARN MORE ABOUT Top Service Providers

As we embark on a new year, our team of analysts working within the Experience, Sustainability & Trust service line looks at the 5 key themes and trends that we can expect to drive the sustainability technology and IT Services market in 2025. 

Reach out to discuss this topic in depth. 

1.Green computing will become integral to decarbonization strategies 

As national and local decarbonization strategies move towards implementation, green and sustainable computing, as well as energy efficient hardware and software, will become integral to achieving those objectives. Enterprises will include green computing initiatives and transition to energy-efficient equipment as part of their broader decarbonization commitments. We expect green data centers that consume less electricity and edge computing models to become more pervasive, as decarbonization approaches embed green computing. 

Aiming to reduce 50% of its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2030, Google has already taken measures to reduce emissions across its operations and power some of its offices and data centers using carbon-free energy*.  

Unilever, in its Climate Transition Action Plan, has also committed EUR150 million to decarbonize its manufacturing program, which includes improving its electrical efficiency by installing more efficient equipment and controls, and transitioning to sustainably sourced biofuels. 

2.Circular economy practices of waste reduction and reuse & recycle will become mainstream 

In an effort to reduce costs, appease scrutinizing investors and comply with local regulations, companies will increasingly adopt circular economy practices, emphasizing resource efficiency optimization and waste reduction through better management.  

Increased attention on designing and producing sustainable products with longer lifecycles, coupled with measures to reuse and recycle materials and components, will also reduce the environmental impact of products and services.  

Microsoft, for example, achieved 89.4% reuse and recycle rates of servers and components across all cloud hardware in FY2023.  

Adopting packaging innovation, Unilever has designed 72% of its plastic packaging portfolio to be easily recycled, such that it avoids emissions at end-of-life incineration. Furthermore, it is collaborating with the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to identify refill-reuse solutions for consumers. 

3.Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) will create new use cases for sustainability and climate action

Much has already been written and said about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) across industries. It is, however, interesting to observe the emergence and adoption of AI across sustainability.  

From monitoring and identifying ways to reduce a company’s carbon footprint to optimizing energy consumption in smart cities, from enabling precision agriculture to increase yield to predicting climate disasters, AI is playing an instrumental role in advancing sustainability use cases.  

As an example, Sipremo, a Brazilian startup, has used AI to predict the location and timing of climate disasters, along with the type of disaster that will occur. This helps businesses, governments, and communities better prepare for impending adverse climate events.  

Another AI-led startup, Eugenie.ai, has embedded AI in its emissions-tracking platform that combines satellite imagery with data from machines and processes and helps companies track, trace, and reduce their emissions by 20-30%.  

In addition to these environmental use cases, we expect social ones to emerge as well. Unbiased Generative AI (gen AI) can promote diversity in hiring, reduce biases from seeping through, create more equitable workplace, and improve social outcomes. Key stakeholders in the gen AI ecosystem – technology providers, service providers, and enterprises – have a crucial role to play in influencing sustainability outcomes. 

4.The “skills gap” will drive demand for ESG professionals, particularly for regulatory compliance

We predict that the social impact of sustainability will be visible through the pronounced ‘skills gap’. As more regulators tighten the grip on companies to demonstrate their sustainability commitments, the talent gap for professionals with background and experience across these evolving frameworks will widen.  

This is already witnessed globally – the 11.6% growth in global demand for green talent is almost twice the 5.6% growth in talent supply. This trend is expected to continue until at least 2030, when one in five jobs is expected to lack the required talent.  

Current demand for ‘green’ skills is high in areas of pollution and waste prevention, renewable energy generation, sustainable finance, environmental audits, environmental policy, and sustainable procurement. Particularly in Europe, the changing regulations and the ongoing energy transition are driving up the demand for such professionals with skills pertaining to climate change and/or sustainability, notably in the UK, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland. 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is another area that warrants more attention. This year, inclusive recruitment will be crucial, from a social standpoint, to address commonly observed biases in technology (gen AI) adoption. We expect increased regulatory interventions through policies and consultation papers to help stakeholders navigate the uncertainties currently engulfing this space. 

5.Climate tech investments will create financial asset classes and broaden capital allocation opportunities 

Driven by regulatory pressures and consumer demand for sustainable products and services, companies are investing in climate technologies. This is leading to the development of innovative solutions to tackle climate-related challenges and is also opening investment opportunities for sustainable finance. 

Continued investments in green hydrogen, battery technology, sustainable fuels, green built environments, and nature conservation, to name a few, are expected to push forward technology innovations and create opportunities for environmentally sustainable financial investments.  

IBM, for instance, uses AI-driven material discovery to identify molecular structures for carbon dioxide (CO2) separation membranes, leading to cost-effective CO2 emissions capture and storage.  

From an investment perspective, climate bonds** surpassed a cumulative volume of US$5.1 trillion in the first half of the year (H1) of 2024, suggesting growing volumes of capital allocated to climate technologies and environment-friendly objectives.  

This is already evident in the social impact sector – the orange asset class has emerged to advance gender equity for prosperity, peace, and planetary resilience. We expect this trend to become more pronounced, particularly as global events in 2024 such as COP16 (biodiversity) in Colombia and COP29 (climate change) in UAE emphasized the importance of climate finance and ‘finance for good’. 

What does this mean for us? 

What do these trends and predictions mean for you as a stakeholder in this space? What are the implications for enterprises and service providers? How can we be better prepared for 2025? 

As an enterprise: 

• Invest in building capabilities internally or hiring skilled professionals to help with accurate reporting on sustainability initiatives for regulatory compliance 
• Identify opportunities across your supply chain for emissions reduction, waste and pollution prevention, reuse and recycling, and technology adoption 
• Conduct competitive benchmarking exercises to map yourself against industry peers and identify opportunities for improvement 
• Collaborate with industry associations, development organizations, and government agencies on industry-level initiatives

As a service provider, software/technology provider, or consulting/advisory firm:

• Bridge the skills gap by providing enterprises with qualified skilled professionals with strong domain knowledge of evolving regulations (e.g., the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in Europe) to help them report accurately on their sustainability initiatives. 
• Build competencies for internal initiatives and conduct pilots and Proofs of Concept (PoCs) within the organization. Leverage successful initiatives as case studies to demonstrate expertise to clients on specific sustainability programs. 
• Conduct research on sustainable Information Technology (IT) and energy efficiency initiatives to identify investment opportunities that cut across multiple facets of sustainability (e.g., circular economy principles to reduce e-waste) 

If you found this blog interesting, check out our blog focusing on Boosting Project Readiness In Technology Talent: A Comprehensive Framework For Developing Project-Ready Workforce | Blog – Everest Group, which delves deeper into another topic relating to this service line. 

To discuss these 2025 predictions and other insights from our research on current and future STS trends and evolutions, please reach out to Siddharth Muzumdar (siddharth.m.ext@everestgrp.com) and Arpita Dwivedi (arpita.dwivedi@everestgrp.com) 

Key: 

* Google’s definition of renewable energy sources, which includes carbon capture and storage technologies  

** Include green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked bonds 

GBS Organizations

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GBS Leaders

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In today’s fast-paced business landscape, sustainability is vital for corporate strategies and operations. Organizations evaluate their financial performance, commitment to ethical practices, and impact on society and the environment. As stakeholders demand greater transparency and accountability, the need for effective ESG data management has surged. This shift highlights the importance of integrating sustainability into core business practices.

Stringent regulatory frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), compel companies to disclose their sustainability practices comprehensively. These regulatory mandates also fuel the growing emphasis on ESG data management. With increasing scrutiny from regulators and heightened public awareness of environmental issues, effective ESG data management has become essential for companies to meet compliance requirements and enhance their operational efficiencies.

• ESG Data Management Platform PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2024

  

  What is in this PEAK Matrix® Report

  In this report, we assess 26 ESG data management providers’ capabilities, including their platform capabilities, key IP/solutions, domain investments, and market positioning. The report equips organizations with the insights to select the right ESG data management solutions tailored to their unique needs. It empowers companies seeking to advance their sustainability initiatives and drive meaningful operational change.

  Scope:

  • All industries and geographies
  • This assessment is based on Everest Group’s annual RFI process for the calendar year 2024, interactions with leading ESG data management platform providers, client reference checks, and an ongoing analysis of the ESG data management platform market.

  Contents:

  In this report, we:

  • Evaluate ESG data management platform market trends
  • Examine key factors and technologies shaping the ESG data management platform market
  • Analyze buyer adoption trends
  • Compare providers’ key strengths and limitations

  READ ON

What is the PEAK Matrix®?

The PEAK Matrix® provides an objective, data-driven assessment of service and technology providers based on their overall capability and market impact across different global services markets, classifying them into three categories: Leaders, Major Contenders, and Aspirants.

LEARN MORE ABOUT Top Service Providers

Everest Group has announced that the industry has met its Commitment to Action (CTA) to grow impact sourcing from 350,000 FTEs to 500,000 individuals throughout the first two years of a three-year pledge. Everest Group pledged to increase the impact sourcing workforce to US$1 million by 2030.

Rita N. Soni, Principal Analyst for Impact Sourcing and Sustainability, Everest Group, said: “The technology and tech services industries are such a source of inspiration for innovatively executing impact sourcing practices across the globe and improving the lives of millions from marginalized communities.  The added beauty of this inclusive talent strategy is that it has business benefits for employers and their clients, which is the quintessential double bottom line!”

Read more at: FutureCIO

In our previous blog, we discussed how the advent of generative AI in our day-to-day lives has skyrocketed in the past few years, helping individuals and companies efficiently tackle tasks through automation and reduce the time taken to complete them. 

Furthermore, new applications of gen AI for business solutions are being developed at a breakneck pace across industries such as Retail And Consumer Packaged Goods (RCPG) Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods, Banking And Financial Services, Healthcare and Life Sciences, and Human Resources , among others.  

Additionally, companies are now expecting more tangible results from the implementation of gen AI to avoid losing market share. This is true for all the previously mentioned stakeholders: technology providers, service providers, and enterprises.  

At the same time, these stakeholders must be mindful of their critical role in fulfilling the DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) mandate, which includes promoting inclusive and equitable practices in gen AI development and deployment. The absence of comprehensive DEIB measures in gen AI models can have detrimental effects both internally and externally. 

Furthermore, equitable artificial intelligence (AI) learning is essential. A survey conducted by a leading consulting firm, indicates that only 10-15% of businesses have established AI roles focused on fostering diverse perspectives within their teams.  

Professionals’ lived experiences provide critical insights for mitigating bias—a truth that all stakeholders must embrace. Before exploring potential solutions, it’s important to investigate the root causes of bias, the different types of biases present, and their implications, as our analysts have done below. 

Reach out to discuss this topic in depth. 

The Case for DEIB in Gen AI:

While technology offers substantial benefits, a significant DEIB challenge persists within current gen AI frameworks, leading to adverse effects for individuals and organizations. AI algorithms – a host of which are trained on existing framework models, lack diverse perspectives, and can mirror the biases of their creators, perpetuating inequalities and harming marginalized communities.

Cultural and social biases often infiltrate these systems, resulting in flawed outputs that do not accurately reflect varied experiences and knowledge.

Some benefits of unbiased gen AI Models include:

At the same time, adopting unbiased gen AI models can significantly benefit organizations by:

• Enhancing Decision-Making: Eliminating biases allows for more accurate, objective insights, improving decision-making across scenarios

• Improving Customer Insights: Objective data analysis helps businesses better understand customer needs, facilitating targeted marketing

• Promoting Diversity in Hiring: Unbiased AI can eliminate discrimination in recruitment, supporting diverse candidates, including neurodivergent individuals

• Streamlining Operations: Reducing bias in automated processes optimizes operations, enhancing overall efficiency and productivity

• Fostering Innovation: Bias-free AI models yield more diverse and creative ideas, propelling innovation across sectors

• Improving Risk Management: Unbiased AI provides clearer, balanced assessments, aiding organizations in identifying and managing risks effectively

• Ensuring Compliance with Ethical Standards: Utilizing unbiased AI aligns with ethical norms and best practices, fostering trust and accountability

• Creating a More Equitable Workplace: By promoting fairness, unbiased AI contributes to a more inclusive environment, driving organizational growth

A deep dive into the causes and types of the bias in terms of DEIB?

Gen AI models are statistical by nature and prone to errors, especially when lacking domain expertise. Currently, a small, homogeneous group often determines the data used for training these models. Many models are built on foundational frameworks such as BERT or RooBERTa, which can carry inherent biases if not addressed from the outset.

Types of DEIB bias include:

The social and business cost for business by utilizing a biased gen AI model:

Addressing these challenges is paramount for companies when accounting for the vast use cases of this technology across sectors. For example, 19% of organizations are leveraging AI to develop new products and services across the RCPG space, according to an Everest Group insight.  

Similarly, 40-45% of business leaders of mega enterprises (revenue exceeding US$ 1 billion) have reported successful implementation of gen AI across various operations in this Everest Group viewpoint. We expect this number to consistently increase in the coming years.  

If the models used for these products or services produce biased results or incorrect outcomes (an important component of ‘hallucinations’), it could negatively impact the companies’ reputations and their bottom lines. Thus, there are both direct and indirect costs associated with leveraging these models. The two key types of costs that businesses would suffer from are the following: 

Business Cost: The direct financial expenses incurred by a business, including production costs, operating expenses, and the costs of complying with regulations. These costs can be both internal and external to the business 

Social Cost: The total economic cost to society, including both direct costs borne by individuals and businesses, as well as indirect costs such as environmental damage, decreased quality of life, and social inequality 

While unbiased AI models are essential, their development and deployment can be costly. Collecting high-quality data for model training, designing and customizing AI models from scratch, and employing sophisticated techniques and specialized talent all contribute to the complexity.  

Additionally, scaling these models across large organizations or multiple geographies can introduce new biases due to variations in cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic factors. Therefore, companies must be deliberate in identifying which products, services, or functions truly require such AI models.  

In response, some organizations have appointed Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Officers, but this approach may be limited, as these officers typically focus on talent acquisition and retention.  

Effectively addressing AI’s DEIB impact requires input from multiple leaders, including the Chief Information Officer (CIO)/ Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Product Procurement Officer (CPO), Chief DE&I Officer, and Chief Sustainability Officer, making it both resource- and cost-intensive. Furthermore, while algorithmic impact assessments are well-intentioned, they often fall short in fully capturing the broader social implications of AI models. 

To address this challenge, Everest Group has developed a framework that stakeholders can use to navigate these complexities effectively, with the overarching principle of the “Comprehensive Inclusion Framework” viewed from both an internal and external perspective. This principle is broken down into four key areas: 

• Inclusiveness emphasizes broad representation in the entire AI development lifecycle. It ensures that diverse perspectives, experiences, and needs are considered when designing, developing, and deploying AI systems 

• Impartiality ensures that AI decision-making processes are neutral, objective, and free from bias or unfair influence by continuously assessing the outputs of the model and checking for impartiality. Thus, blending in objective data driven insights 

• Equity, in the context of AI ensures that all user groups experience fair and just outcomes from AI systems, regardless of their background, demographics, or identity  

• Accessibility, focuses on making sure that AI technologies are usable and beneficial to all individuals, regardless of their socioeconomic status, disabilities, education, or geographic location 

The framework provides a comprehensive approach to integrating gen AI and DEIB policies within organizations across vertical and horizontal processes. It categorizes various policy combinations based on the level of emphasis placed on AI and DEIB and offers recommendations to achieve optimal alignment. The categories include: 

• Low DEIB Impact: DEIB efforts are not prioritized due to the lack of strong business or social cases 

• Medium DEIB Impact: DEIB efforts are focused on business and social benefits, with AI considered a tool to enhance these case 

• High DEIB impact: DEIB values are deeply integrated into organizational culture, using AI to drive inclusivity and equity throughout the business 

The current state of the market in terms of DEIB embodiment by stakeholders: 

As mentioned in our last blog post, across stakeholders, the current level of DEIB integration according to our ROLE framework is as follows: 

As gen AI increasingly influences business operations, stakeholders must prioritize DEIB in their AI development and deployment efforts.  

Tackling inherent biases and fostering fairness will not only mitigate risks but also enhance decision-making, customer insights, innovation, and workplace equity. By adopting frameworks such as Everest Group’s “Comprehensive Inclusion Framework”, organizations can effectively align their AI and DEIB strategies, ensuring long-term success and ethical compliance. 

We are actively tracking the evolution of artificial intelligence and its impact on the future of all sectors. To discuss the latest trends and their implications for brands, technology vendors, and service providers alike, feel free to reach out to Kanishka Chakraborty (kanishka.chakraborty@everestgrp.com), Meenakshi Narayanan (meenakshi.narayanan@everestgrp.com), Abhishek Sengupta (abhishek.sengupta@everestgrp.com), Abhishek Biswas (abhishek.biswas@everestgrp.com), Rita Soni (rita.soni@everestgrp.com) and Cecilia Van Cauwenberghe (cecilia.vancauwenberghe@everestgrp.com). 

If you found this blog interesting, check out our blog focusing on Building Purpose-Driven Generative AI (gen AI) – Why We All Have A Role To Play In The Future Success Of The Gen AI Ecosystem  | Blog – Everest Group, which delves deeper into the subject of gen AI. 

This is the first of a new series of blogs, with plenty more to come in 2024 and 2025! 

WATCH THE WEBINAR ON-DEMAND

ER&D enterprises are undergoing a significant shift in customer preferences due to growing environmental awareness, social opportunities, and government regulations, which is dramatically reshaping engineering priorities.

Watch this webinar to hear our experts discuss the latest key sustainable engineering priorities and the evolving ER&D landscape. They shared practical recommendations for sustainable engineering spend, examined current challenges that enterprises face, and explored the latest impacts on sustainable engineering outsourcing.

Plus, attendees learned how enterprises can effectively realign talent, technology, and ecosystem engagement strategies to adopt and scale sustainability initiatives.

What questions did the webinar answer?

• What are the emerging trends and key themes driving the sustainable engineering market?
• What challenges do enterprises face while incorporating/adopting the concept of sustainability into their engineering journey?
• How do you strategize for talent, technology, and ecosystem leverage to mitigate challenges?

Who should attend?

• Chief sustainability officers, chief diversity officers, chief innovation officers, chief supply chain officers, CTOs, CPOs, COOs, CEOs
• Sourcing and vendor managers, procurement managers, global sourcing managers, and heads of outsourcing
• Climate change and net-zero transformation leaders
• Vice president of innovation, automotive
• Heads of engineering and R&D