Generative AI has moved from an experimental tool to a core enterprise engine, unlocking business value across the entire IT stack. Yet every new parameter-rich model brings a heavy sustainability price tag: soaring electricity draw, intensified cooling loads, and water usage that stretches local resources. The very clouds that promise digital transformation risk casting a shadow over global net-zero goals. In this Viewpoint, Everest Group unpacks the contradiction. We trace how exponential AI workloads are stress-testing hyperscalers’ original green growth pledges, such as 100 percent renewable energy, water-positive campuses, circular hardware, placing these commitments at a pivotal phase of execution and accountability. Beyond this, this Viewpoint focuses on future opportunities. Hyperscalers, based on their scale and influence, hold immense power to reset ambitions and raise the bar for sustainable growth. We examine how hyperscalers are already investing in next-generation technologies that can improve energy and resource efficiency, as well as how they can do more in the future. Ultimately, this Viewpoint offers a forward-thinking playbook for technology providers and enterprises navigating the intersection of AI and sustainability. By turning intent into impact, hyperscalers, their ecosystems, and enterprises can work together to drive responsible innovation that not only meets the moment but defines the next era of cloud leadership.

Achieving sustainability will require decarbonizing the energy and transportation sectors, as well as the broader industrial supply chain. Equally essential are responsible practices for resource sourcing, utilization, and end-of-life management. Everest Group’s The Top 10 Game-changing Sustainability Technologies report explores the key technologies redefining the sector, with a focus on three key trends: energy transition, industrial and transportational decarbonization, and sustainable supply chain and circular economy. The report provides in-depth insights into breakthrough innovations, including third-generation solar technologies, small modular reactors, solid-state batteries, high-temperature electrolyzers, liquid organic hydrogen carriers, carbon capture, utilization and storage, waste valorization, bio-inspired plastics, and advanced oxidation processes. Scope Industry: sustainability Geography: all geographies

Policymakers and industrial stakeholders globally are striving to transition to a low-carbon economy to achieve net-zero targets in the long term. However, sectors such as aviation, shipping, long-distance transport, and heavy industries have difficulty decarbonizing using direct electrification. These hard-to-abate sectors need large-scale, high-energy-density feedstocks to decarbonize. Hydrogen is the ideal energy carrier, enabling energy diversification when produced through renewable energy, significantly reducing emissions while aiding policymakers to meet long-term pledges. Additionally, renewable energy sources are highly intermittent, leading to fluctuations in renewable energy storage. Power-to-X (PtX) technology advances help convert surplus renewable energy into stable energy carriers, such as hydrogen and its derivatives, including Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), methanol, ammonia, and synthetic methane, for aviation, maritime, agriculture, and chemicals industries. PtX efficiently harnesses renewable energy by producing synthetic fuels, chemicals, and other specialty compounds. It also reduces carbon emissions and minimizes dependency on fossil fuels. In this report, we analyze the growing PtX technology adoption across industries and how it aids decarbonization. Scope Geography: all Industry: energy, environment, and transportation Contents In this report, we examine: The PtX technology landscape and its significant pathways Key factors driving R&D and adoption Key technology developers, regulations, and techno-economic analysis PtX technologies’ future trajectory