2024 was a transformative year that marked AI’s emergence as a defining force in corporate America. Integration of generative AI kicked into high gear – as did public awareness and media scrutiny of both the revolutionary potential of AI and its unknown implications for business, workers, and society. 

According to JUST Capital’s annual Americans’ Views on Business Survey, 70% of the American public believe that CEOs from large companies have a role to play in ensuring the ethical use of AI. This finding underscores a clear mandate for corporate leaders on responsible AI adoption.

As 2024 draws to a close, JUST Capital conducted an analysis of how America’s largest companies are approaching this technological transformation. This research examined public disclosures from the JUST 100, the top 100 performing companies in JUST Capital’s annual Rankings, revealing how these market leaders adapted to and communicated about AI’s growing influence on their operations, governance, and strategic planning. 

This exploratory analysis identified six topics that appear in companies’ public communications on AI initiatives: ethical AI practices, sustainable AI applications, worker training and upskilling, AI product development, cybersecurity considerations, and AI for social impact.

“In these early days of the AI revolution, companies and technologies are advancing at a breakneck pace, often outstripping the patchwork of emerging and sometimes conflicting regulatory frameworks,” says Justin Antonipillai, Founder & CEO of Stewardshipped.ai and JUST Capital AI Advisor. “This presents a tremendous opportunity for bold corporate leadership. By transparently disclosing their AI strategies and demonstrating ethically grounded practices, companies can set a new standard for responsible innovation. I’m excited to help spotlight these critical corporate initiatives creating a roadmap for the broader business community to follow and build upon.”

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Four Trends We’re Tracking on AI Disclosure

1. Leading companies increasingly include explicit mention of AI in disclosures. Our analysis focused on the companies that performed at the highest level in our annual Ranking of America’s most just companies, which tend to disclose key stakeholder metrics at higher rates than the average company, and are similarly responsive to this emergent issue. 76% of these highly disclosing, stakeholder-focused companies included AI within their latest public disclosure. Many did so substantively, with six companies mentioning AI over 100 times in their reports and one company referencing it 260 times. 

Taking a leadership Role: Salesforce comprehensively detailed their AI initiatives, spanning ethical AI practices, sustainable AI applications, AI product development, and workforce training. “As the #1 AI CRM, we have a responsibility to lead with trust, mitigate bias, and involve diverse teams in the development of our technology — all while reducing the impact of AI on the planet.” 

2. Disclosures respond to public concerns about ethical AI. The American people are clear: companies must address the ethical concerns AI raises, particularly given the current lack of comprehensive federal regulation regarding AI. Among disclosing JUST 100 companies, 50% mentioned ethical AI policies, considerations, or initiatives, making it the largest category of disclosure. The Software and Semiconductor & Equipment industries led in these disclosures, reflecting their critical role in AI development, with twelve companies detailing their Ethical AI Frameworks and Policies and several establishing governance committees to ensure alignment with AI principles. Companies are proactively developing ethical frameworks and implementing internal controls, in an effort to self-regulate in this emerging space. 

Principles into Practice: Intuit’s Responsible AI Principles include “powering prosperity, enhancing human talent, fairness, accountability, transparency, and privacy and security. We operationalize our principles through a governance model designed to identify risk and prevent potential identified harms. Our multidisciplinary approach includes internal review, executive level oversight through our AI Governance Committee, employee training, and channels for stakeholder feedback.”

3. AI and Sustainability present a dual challenge: Sustainable AI Applications emerged as the second most-discussed topic, with 27% of companies disclosing plans to leverage AI for sustainability goals and energy efficiency optimization. The Semiconductors & Equipment industry led these discussions, reflecting their direct involvement in AI infrastructure development. Companies are proactively addressing the complex challenge of AI’s environmental footprint, particularly regarding resource-intensive data centers, while simultaneously investing in sustainable AI technology to achieve climate goals. 

AI as a Climate Solution: Microsoft is harnessing AI to further its climate goals. “Microsoft is investing in AI-based solutions in areas where progress on our global sustainability goals is bottlenecked. In November 2023, we published a white paper and playbook that expands on the incredible potential of AI to accelerate sustainability solutions and introduces our five-point playbook for creating the needed enabling conditions to unlock the transformative potential of AI for sustainability.”

4. Corporate disclosures emphasize AI workforce enhancement, not replacement. While public discourse often centers on AI’s potential for job displacement, company disclosures paint a different picture – none of the 76 AI-disclosing companies mentioned workforce reductions or plans to replace workers with AI technology or automation. Instead, 26% of disclosing companies focused on how AI can augment rather than replace their workforce. The Commercial Support Services and Software sectors led these discussions, committing to Data and AI training for hiring and upskilling initiatives. Companies disclose proactive investment in their workforce through AI training and development, though public disclosures may not tell the complete story of employment practices. 

Training the Future: ServiceNow’s report highlights their commitment to AI enhancement, “making it easy to create and use AI and generative AI (Gen AI) to maximize talent impact and value. We see technology as enhancing productivity, not replacing talent.”

“This analysis is encouraging. It shows that leading companies recognize the importance of transparency in building trust with stakeholders,” says Jon Iwata, Executive Chairman, Data & Trust Alliance and JUST Capital AI Advisor. “Those that proactively disclose their AI practices and strive to deploy AI responsibly to achieve business outcomes are building the foundation for sustainable innovation.”

The rates of disclosure among JUST 100 companies in 2024 reinforce what we have heard from the American public – AI’s role in business is pressing and stakeholders are seeking transparency. We expect rates of disclosure to only increase as AI continues to reshape business in 2025 and beyond. Leading companies will face increasing pressure to demonstrate how their AI initiatives deliver value, while simultaneously adhering to developing governance frameworks, sustainability considerations, and meaningful workforce development. The challenge ahead will be maintaining the balance between innovation and responsibility, ensuring that the technological advancement and opportunity AI brings aligns with societal expectations for its ethical deployment.  

Interested in learning more about leading disclosure practices and your company’s performance on key stakeholder issues?  Please reach out to corpengage@justcapital.com.