AERIC: AI-driven ESG reporting in International Value Chains

Globalization provides companies with many opportunities, but it also poses risks throughout the international supply chain. These risks are particularly evident in areas related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Companies are increasingly expected to report transparently on their efforts in these areas. As public pressure grows, the legal framework is becoming stricter. In Switzerland and Europe, instruments such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) now require verifiable ESG reporting, as does Article 964 of the Swiss Civil Code. These regulations will affect up to 50,000 Swiss SMEs directly or indirectly.

However, existing compliance solutions are expensive and complex. They rely on manual reporting cycles that consume hundreds of hours per year — far beyond the practical capacity of most SMEs. The AERIC project aims to develop an AI-native compliance engine that automates ESG reporting according to the individual requirements of SMEs' B2B customers and links directly to upstream and downstream ESG supply chain data. This will deliver a faster, more reliable, and SME-appropriate solution.

Discussions with SMEs and industry experts have shown that ESG reporting processes remain manual, expensive, and insufficiently precise to meet the requirements of B2B customers and regulators alike. Companies lack the necessary tools and expertise to efficiently and verifiably manage ESG data across their supply chains. This project aims to develop AERIC: a research-based, AI-native compliance engine tailored to the practical realities of Swiss SMEs. Specifically, the following deliverables are being developed:

(A) An automated ESG reporting engine:
An AI-powered solution that generates ESG reports automatically and aligns them with the individual requirements of B2B customers. The engine links directly to upstream and downstream supply chain data, delivering faster, more accurate, and more reliable reporting outcomes.

(B) Decentralized Data Infrastructure:
A software solution based on decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials that ensures end-to-end data sovereignty for SMEs. ESG compliance claims are tokenized, connecting real-world ESG phenomena with verifiable digital certificates.

(C) Lean ESG Reporting Guidelines and Training Concept:
A practical, research-based consulting and training concept designed to enable SMEs to build internal ESG competence and reduce staff effort for each reporting cycle.

AERIC is being developed and validated with implementation partners digihub.li, Ocean Quest International AG, and Eugen Seitz AG.

Involved parties

The project is being implemented by the Swiss Institute for Entrepreneurship (SIFE) and Swiss Institute for Information Science (SII) in collaboration with the PRME Business Integrity Action Center and the digihub.li Genossenschaft, Ocean Quest International AG, Eugen Seitz AG.