EcoVadis on Bridging the Supply Chain’s Upstream AI Divide

Over the past 10 years, companies have set ambitious net zero goals and worked to comply with the rules. 

Now, the main challenge is turning these plans into action on a bigger scale.

One main problem is the growing technology gap. 

Large multinational buyers at Tier 1 are ahead in using AI, but their partners in Tiers 2 and 3 are not as advanced with digital tools.

The growing digital divide

Procurement teams now widely use AI to manage the complex global supply chains.

But EcoVadis’ latest annual Sustainable Procurement Barometer, which surveys business leaders, found the gap between buyers and sellers is getting bigger.

Currently, 68% of buying organisations use AI for analytics, data checking and risk screening, the survey found.

But this digital change is not happening at the same pace everywhere.

EcoVadis found that 36% of suppliers do not plan to use AI tools, which creates a digital divide and puts global ESG data at risk.

Organisations are making progress where they have direct control with almost half saying they have visibility into 75% or more of their Tier 1 suppliers.

But transparency drops off quickly. Only 12% of organisations can see into more than half of their Tier 2 suppliers, and for 85%, Tier 3 suppliers are still mostly hidden, according to the survey.

“The companies performing best right now are using sustainability to protect revenue, manage supplier risk and make faster decisions,” says Pierre-François Thaler, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis.

“You cannot build a resilient supply chain if you don’t know where your carbon exposure is, where labour risks exist, or which suppliers could disrupt your business tomorrow.

“More than US$2.5tn in global spend now runs through this lens. That tells us sustainability has moved from the sidelines to the centre of how companies operate.”

Why this gap matters

Lack of AI and digital maturity in the deeper parts of the supply chain poses serious business risks.

Problems such as hidden disruptions, human rights issues and carbon hotspots often originate from deep within the supply chain.

Without AI tools to match supplier data and identify issues, procurement teams can only react to problems rather than prevent them.

Also, when suppliers lack digital tools, it takes longer to get the information needed to make decisions.

Buyers want detailed, product-level carbon data to meet rules like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), but almost 30% of suppliers still do not provide any primary emissions data.

This data gap makes it hard for buyers to accurately measure their Scope 3 exposure or determine the true return on their sustainability investments.

Shifting from monitoring to partnership

Businesses are focusing on helping suppliers build their skills and treating them as strategic partners.

Leaders are 3.6 times more likely than others to work closely with their suppliers, moving from one-time surveys to ongoing, structured engagement, according to EcoVadis’ research.

To close the AI and data gap, top companies should set clear expectations and give real support.

This means helping small and medium-sized businesses to start using digital tools and reporting systems.

Integrating intelligence into sourcing, contracts and product development helps sustainability become a driver of innovation rather than just a reporting task.

“Putting sustainability into practice at scale exposes a new challenge: the growing complexity of global supply chains is stretching traditional governance models beyond their limits,” says Matias Pollmann-Larsen, Global Risk, Resilience and Sustainable Value Chain Lead at EcoVadis.

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Increasing visibility by 2029

Supply chain disruptions still cost the global economy billions in lost revenue and lower capacity.

Organisations that use advanced AI-driven processes are seeing about 2.5 times more revenue growth and productivity than others.

“AI is becoming a core lever of this shift, enabling procurement teams to move from reactive oversight toward proactive, intelligence-led decision-making,” Matias adds.

By 2029, 40% of organisations are expected to have much better visibility into their Tier 3 networks, due to new rules and technology.

But to build a strong, value-driven supply chain, companies need to create a digital bridge that links the whole value chain.