Action Theme:
Put AI to Work, Responsibly
Action Theme at a Glance
Purpose: To help members put AI to work in ways that strengthen business performance and sustainability decisions—while protecting people, trust and the systems businesses depend on.
Target Group: C-suite leaders and board members; General Counsels and corporate secretaries; risk, sustainability, digital and IT teams; operations and internal audit teams.
Timeline: Q4 2026 - Q4 2027
Member Maturity: Pioneer and scaler
Deliverables/Outputs: Responsible AI Leadership Dialogue at Laudato Si’ (in discussions for Q4 2026); Responsible AI briefing pack (Q2 2027); Responsible AI Impact Assessment Tool (Q3 2027).
Purpose:
To help members put AI to work in ways that strengthen business performance and sustainability decisions - while protecting people, trust and the systems businesses depend on.
How:
AI is at the top of every executive agenda. Its impact on companies is only beginning to be understood in product development, supply chain management, workforce productivity, business models and competitive positioning. And it is beginning to reach the board agenda as governance questions about oversight, liability and insurability become more important.
The environmental footprint of AI is less well understood. AI systems increase demand for energy, water, computing power, data infrastructure and minerals. Its footprint belongs in every deployment decision.
Even less understood is AI's impact on the workforce at the company level and on labor markets and society at large.
Given the speed at which the technology is developing, it is urgent for executives to build their understanding of these broader implications. That is what Put AI to Work, Responsibly aims to do. Most companies already have policies covering fairness, privacy, transparency and compliance. Such policies are essential. But they do not answer the questions AI raises for people, business, society and the environment.
Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas addresses exactly these broader questions: human dignity, meaningful work, truth, freedom, the common good and care for our common home. Through our partnership with the Borgo Laudato Si’, WBCSD is in discussions to plan a series of top executive roundtables to explore the broader implications of AI for business and society - and to translate them into practical business leadership.
Through practical guidance, leadership questions, learning assets and tools, members will be able to assess AI's implications for people, work, trust, governance, accountability, sustainability outcomes and the environment before deploying it.
Learn more about these planned 2027 deliverables in the September release:
Deliverable 1: Responsible AI Leadership Dialogue at Laudato Si’: From Magnifica Humanitas to Business Practice
WBCSD is in discussions to convene a high-level Responsible AI Leadership Dialogue at Laudato Si’ in Q4 2026/Q1 2027. The dialogue would bring together senior executives, governance experts, ethical leaders and partners to translate the principles of Magnifica Humanitas into practical business questions on human dignity, meaningful work, governance, environmental impact, accountability, transparency and trust.
Deliverable 2: Responsible AI Board and Executive Briefing Pack
This deliverable is a practical briefing pack to help boards and executive teams understand and govern the people, workforce, sustainability and trust implications of AI. Shaped through member dialogue and testing, it will translate complex ethical, regulatory and operational issues into practical questions that leaders can use to assess how AI should be introduced, governed and monitored across the business.
Deliverable 3: Responsible AI Impact Assessment Tool
The third deliverable is a tool that will help business teams assess an AI use case before deployment and document a clear decision: proceed, proceed with safeguards, pause for further review or do not proceed. The assessment will be designed to examine impacts on employees, job quality, skills, inclusion, privacy, safety, human judgement, accountability, stakeholder trust and sustainability outcomes.
What is unique about this offer?
WBCSD brings a distinctive business and sustainability lens to responsible AI and, through the Laudato Si’ partnership, a convening space no other business platform can offer. Rather than focusing only on ethics, compliance or technical safeguards, this theme helps leaders decide not only what AI can do, but whether it should be used, under what conditions, and with what safeguards. It connects board oversight with real deployment decisions.
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