AI Enabled Sustainability Ratings Product - ON-1154

Project type: Innovation
Desired discipline(s): Computer science, Mathematical Sciences, Business, Social Sciences & Humanities, Interactive arts and technology
Company: Sustainability Plus
Project Length: 4 to 6 months
Preferred start date: As soon as possible.
Language requirement: English
Location(s): Toronto, ON, Canada
No. of positions: 1
Desired education level: CollegeUndergraduate/BachelorMaster'sPhDPostdoctoral fellowRecent graduate
Open to applicants registered at an institution outside of Canada: No

About the company: 

Companies and investors have spent significant sums on data only to see a change in reporting requirements for performance in the EU, and a general change in attitudes around sustainability data reporting culminating in a lessening of the reporting requirements for many companies. Reports suggest large companies and investors spend an average of $500,000 on data annually and the downgrade in their reporting needs suggested a more cost-efficient, optimized approach is required. Smaller companies are frozen out as they cannot afford the data. Add this to the fact that the large agencies rely on self-reporting that investors do not trust and that large agencies do not use AI effectively creates a perfect storm.

SustainabilityPlus provides a full data set plus a rating to companies for an annual subscription. We measure 170 different aspects of a company’s overall performance to derive a numeric rating and industry ranking. We use AI tools to gather and track data from publicly available sources and further use AI tools to rate the performance of companies on an absolute basis and also on a relative basis compared to companies within their industry.

Describe the project.: 

Transform the current MVP into a scalable, production-grade AI product that delivers value across multiple industries. Extend the existing single-sector implementation by generalizing the underlying data and scoring architecture to support diverse use cases.

Redesign the front end into an AI-driven, search-based query interface that enables users to explore insights and access the product through a subscription model. Improve the product delivery process by automating the creation and distribution of quarterly data intelligence reports using modern BI tools. Introduce downloadable digital badges that reflect verified insights and subscriber achievements.

Enhance the backend through an AI agentic automation approach, enabling the system to refine prompts, optimize LLM usage, and maintain high stability. The product currently leverages publicly available LLMs to gather, process, and reason over datasets spanning 170+ performance indicators per company. The next iteration will use intelligent automation to continuously improve data quality, reasoning accuracy, and operational efficiency while keeping the system simple and easy to maintain

Sustainability Plus uses technology to enable company ‘Sustainability’ ratings through the use of publicly available data. The aim is to utilise AI, automation and machine learning as the key foundations to deliver the application on a consistent basis. The aim is to allow for quarterly updated reporting and in addition enable the model to evolve and pivot to meet business demands as required.
As the model evolves, it is anticipated that additional functionality will be added along with more sophisticated analysis.

Required expertise/skills: 

- Expertise in managing AI based product development and delivery
- Web interface experience
- Expertise with leading development tools such as python
- Database design and execution
- Storage and archive solutions