The power needed to fuel AI data centres has doubled between 2017 and 2023 according to a United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, shared by Fortune, hampering energy reduction targets. One report found that CO2 emissions produced by ChatGPT equated to those produced by 260 flights between the New York and London each month.
As AI becomes integral to modern economies, the pressure is on to prepare graduates who can not only understand the intricacies of AI use or find careers that won’t be replaced by digital tools, but who can use such technology ethically and sustainably.
AI and Empathy at the Centre
The Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore) is at the forefront of this shift, integrating “green AI” principles into both its curriculum and wider institutional ethos.
“We are deeply committed to equipping our students with managerial and technical expertise and people skills, ensuring they graduate ready for a future where automation and sustainability go hand in hand,” says the school’s Director, Professor Himanshu Rai.
Its MBA integrates emerging technologies into its curriculum, with courses such as Data Visualisation and Metaverse and Business Applications taught alongside ethics and governance. New AI tools are introduced as case studies for examining societal impact and long-term sustainability prospects.
“Our approach is hands-on and industry-linked,” Rai explains. “We deliberately balance technical mastery with people-centred leadership, empathy, and a sustainability lens.” IIM Indore recognises these global concerns and treats this as a call to act.
“We view this not as a conflict, but as an imperative to design and use AI responsibly,” Rai explains. The integration of AI and sustainability are an ongoing process, adapting curriculum, upskilling faculty, and working closely with industry partners to ensure Indore’s students are equipped to address real-world challenges.
Responsible Digital Infrastructure at Scale
The quest for sustainable AI stretches beyond Indore, all the way to Paris, where NEMOA Business School is treating sustainability as a core principle of how its new technologies are introduced and managed.
“We see sustainability as an essential foundation for our digital strategy, including the integration of AI,” said Alain Goudey, Associate Dean for Digital at NEOMA. “We focus on three main actions.” These include responsible curriculum design, a sustainable digital infrastructure that use energy-efficient cloud platforms, and the use of smaller, open-source AI models such as Mistral AI, which consumes less power both during training and when generating results. The school plans to roll it out to 3,000 users, showing how low-energy AI can be applied at scale.
The school is also reshaping teaching methods to better prepare graduates to operate in an AI world. “We ensure our students are future-proof by developing skills that complement AI: critical thinking, creativity, ethical judgment, leadership, and cross-cultural collaboration,” Goudey explains.
Recognising the misunderstandings around AI, he reinforces the importance of using the technology with care: “Many see AI as inherently resource-intensive, but when used thoughtfully, AI can drive sustainability… The key is to design, apply, and govern AI technology responsibly.”
Making Sustainability a Core AI Principle
Taking that approach to heart, the Open Institute of Technology is infusing sustainable principles at the centre of their teaching.
“Our approach to teaching AI sustainably is firmly embedded in both our curriculum and daily classroom activities,” says Zorina Alliata of OPIT. “We are committed to creating a learning environment that prioritises energy-efficient algorithms and processing processes from the start.”
Students explore emerging models such as neuromorphic and quantum computing. “Throughout the course, students are challenged not just to maximize their technical solutions, but also to consider the overall sustainability of their computing decisions,” she says. The programme also fosters a well-rounded understanding of AI’s opportunities and challenges in relation to sustainability, a skillset increasingly valued by employers. “Students are encouraged to see AI as a partner who complements human intelligence, with a special emphasis on critical thinking, problem-solving, ethical stewardship, and constant learning.”
Similar to Goudey, she also tackles its perceptions head-on: “Some people believe that using AI contradicts sustainability values… However, when intelligently constructed, AI may be a powerful enabler of environmental goals,” Alliata concludes.
Encouraging Deep Trade-Off Thinking
When integrating AI into education and industry, schools are highlighting the importance of acknowledging that every innovation comes with both benefits and costs.
“Many AI enthusiasts give little thought to sustainability implications,” says Meelis Kitsing, Rector of the Estonian Business School, where students are encouraged to explore how to balance efficiency, capability, and sustainability when making AI-related decisions. “We recognize and actively encourage discussion about the trade-offs involved in the use of AI in our learning environment. Sustainability-related issues are an integral part of these.”
The key obstacle, he says, is mindset. Institutions must move beyond conventional business education to foster genuine interdisciplinary collaboration in integrating AI and sustainability.
The school runs a summer programme on digitalisation and sustainability bringing together academics, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, as well as adding practical examples of supporting sustainable AI to the wider curriculum.
Looking Forward: India’s Role in Shaping Responsible AI
By allowing students and industry professionals to work on and witness ‘Green-AI’ in action together, EBS ensures they are not only part of the answer to sustainable AI but also produce graduates with the skills to continue this work after graduation.
As Professor Rai of IIM Indore notes, “We want our graduates to be not only proficient management professionals but also responsible custodians of society and the environment.”
In an era where technology is advancing faster than regulation or public understanding, the role of universities has never been more vital. Across continents a new clear consensus is emerging; sustainability, ethics, and AI are not competing priorities, they are inseparable.
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Views expressed above are the author’s own.
