The Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay released its inaugural ‘Bold Ideas’ white paper, Balancing the Benefits of AI & the Health of Our Planet. The paper explores how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to enhance both operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Drawing insights from a range of women experts across the fields of business, technology, sustainability, transportation, supply chain, government, NGOs and academia, the report outlines six practical steps any organization can take through its executive team, board and suppliers to adopt AI sustainably.

The white paper also examines the potential risks and rewards of AI technology with insights from women leaders at organizations including Google, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Keurig Dr Pepper, Duke University, Microsoft, EY Atlanta, and others.

“This collection of perspectives demonstrates the often-underrecognized impact of women who are at the forefront of shaping pathways forward,” said MarySue Barrett, Senior Strategy Advisor of the Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay, project lead, and civic leader with expertise in infrastructure and sustainable development. “The ‘Six Recommendations for Action’ are practical and readily implementable. These are steps every organization should be taking now.”

The white paper is the first in a series of ‘Bold Ideas’ impact initiatives to be activated by the Women’s Leadership Center, a unique convening space under development at 333 W. Constance Boulevard in Williams Bay, WI, set to open in 2026.

“We think of ‘Bold Ideas’ as audacious approaches to global concerns,” said Ann M. Drake, President of the Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay. “The Center will be a place where big ideas are born and take flight, as we host multidisciplinary gatherings of women leaders with extensive, intersecting expertise,” Drake explained. “We believe the ideas and interactions we foster here can create a brighter future, for everyone.”

The report was developed in collaboration with AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management, and Education), a professional community for senior women in supply chain founded by Drake in 2013.

“The supply chain perspective, and the contributions of AWESOME Advisors, are especially relevant to this conversation about sustainable AI,” affirmed Michelle Dilley, CEO of AWESOME. “Supply chain intersects every stage of a product’s lifecycle, from sourcing, labor conditions, manufacturing, global logistics, to reuse and recycling — and this extends even to the AI components themselves.”

“Through these conversations with leaders across supply chain, a range of industries, and sustainability, it is clear that while AI creates environmental impacts requiring our attention and collaboration, it also has enormous potential to accelerate the net zero solutions our planet desperately needs,” said Barrett.

As the white paper concludes: “It is up to humans to deploy AI responsibly and ethically, to establish guardrails, to insist on transparency, and to direct AI to solve problems and improve our world for all.”

The report is available for viewing and download here.