1This publication titled AI for Energy, Water, and Waste Management: Unlocking Opportunities, Navigating Challenges, and Learning from Experience is co-produced by by the Veolia Institute and Microsoft.

2This joint report provides a robust overview of the power of AI for managing energy, water and waste – referred to here collectively as environmental services. It seeks to characterize, and when possible, quantify, the benefits and costs of AI for this purpose.

3It is an interdisciplinary review that brings together and shares the experiences and expertise of different stakeholders including researchers, leaders, and policymakers in academia, private sector and civil society to explore state of the art, best practices from the field and expert analysis so as to have a comprehensive overview of current knowledge and blind spots on this topic as well as several documented case studies.

The Veolia Institute

4Established in 2001, the Veolia Institute serves as a platform for discussion and collective thinking, exploring the future at the intersection of society and the environment. Its mission is to collaboratively illuminate the future.

5Working with the global academic community, it facilitates multi-stakeholder analysis to explore emerging environmental and societal trends. It focuses on a wide range of issues related to the future of urban living as well as sustainable production and consumption (cities, urban services, environment, energy, health, agriculture, etc.).

6Over the years, the Veolia Institute has built a high-level international network of academic and scientific experts, universities, policymakers, NGOs, and international organizations. The Institute achieves its mission through publications, conferences, and foresight working groups. Internationally recognized, the Veolia Institute holds official NGO observer status under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

7The Veolia Institute Foresight Committee, leveraging its members’ international expertise, guides the Institute’s work and development. Current members are:

• Philippe Aghion, Economist and Professor at the Collège de France and the London School of Economics, Nobel Prize of Economics in 2025;

• Harvey Fineberg, President of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and former President of the American Institute of Medicine;

• Pierre-Marc Johnson, international lawyer and former First Minister of Quebec;

• Philippe Kourilsky, Honorary Director General of the Pasteur Institute;

• Amy Luers, Head of Sustainability Science & Innovation at Microsoft

• Mamphela Ramphele, former Managing Director of the World Bank;

• Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic, Director of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and President of IDDRI’s Scientific Advisory Board.

8www.institut.veolia.org

Microsoft

9Microsoft combines bold commitments, strategic partnerships, and the transformative power of AI to accelerate progress toward a shared sustainable future. Using AI-powered technologies, Microsoft works to accelerate biodiversity protection, clean energy access, and resource efficiency and is dedicated to working collaboratively to support the responsible use of AI for accelerating sustainability solutions for all.

10This special report was developed with the support and affiliation of the AI Economy Institute (AIEI), Microsoft’s flagship think tank dedicated to shaping an inclusive and trustworthy AI economy. Through open research calls, AIEI is cultivating a global network of scholars conducting independent research and connecting them with Microsoft subject matter experts to examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping work, education, and productivity. The institute makes this growing body of insight accessible to policymakers, educators, and leaders to support informed decision making.

11This AI for Energy, Water, and Waste Management report focuses on the diffusion of AI in the environmental services industry. This is the first sector-specific report from the AIEI.

12AIEI’s mission is to advance actionable research and policy guidance that helps societies, governments, and organizations adapt intentionally to AI-driven change via:

Research & Insights

13AIEI sponsors interdisciplinary studies on AI’s economic and social impact, producing peer-reviewed articles and tradebooks, that map to policy playbooks, and practical frameworks.

Collaborative Network

14Through calls for proposals, workshops, and global partnerships, AIEI convenes a wide-range of expert perspectives to accelerate knowledge sharing and innovation.

15AI is reshaping economies faster than any prior technology. AIEI exists to ensure this transformation strengthens opportunity, trust, and shared prosperity.

16www.microsoft.com

 

17Each contribution to this report was independently written by the respective scholar or expert. The views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Veolia Institute or Microsoft. Contributors received editorial support, and some received an honorarium from Microsoft for their participation.