During the 2022 FutureCFO vSummit series held across Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, one topic that stood out as a point of interest for many of the participating senior finance leaders was around the organisations’ commitment to sustainability goals.

But what about the head of technology? According to Gartner there is an opportunity for the CIO to take a lead role in addressing this demand.

Gartner says “Digital sustainability uses information and technology (I&T) to enable ESG transparency, automation, accuracy, and traceability. Sustainable technology is a framework to improve ESG. CIOs should lead digital sustainability (IT), amplify sustainable technology (OT) and integrate IT and OT.” [Gartner]

In this PodChats for FutureCIO, we are joined by Rajesh Nandakumar, head of Information technology at Westpac Institutional Bank Asia, for his perspective on how the CIO can spearhead the realisation of ESG aspirations.

1.       How is ESG connected to IT (function)?

a.       What is expected of the CIO when it comes to ESG?

2.       To what extent is the CIO accountable for ESG's success or failure?

3.       What are the challenges that a CIO must overcome to ensure IT is able to make a positive contribution to successful ESG?

4.       How can CIOs get ahead on sustainability and ESG?