- Stuart Stock, Veolia
As the global economy confronts the dual imperatives of ecological preservation and technological advancement, we at Veolia, are executing a comprehensive strategy that places Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the core of our operations and future growth. In this article, I provide an in-depth analysis of how we are leveraging AI not merely for incremental efficiency gains, but to fundamentally re-architect our approach to water, waste, and energy management. Our AI integration follows a multi-layered strategy. It is driven by our corporate vision and enabled by a dual-platform architecture. We have proven its effectiveness through a diverse portfolio of solutions, all guided by a forward-thinking governance framework.
The strategic impetus for this transformation is our GreenUp program (2024-2027), an ambitious corporate program backed by a €4 billion investment to achieve aggressive targets in decarbonization, depollution, and resource regeneration. This approach reframes sustainability, not as a regulatory burden or a cost center, but as a core driver of competitive advantage and profitability. We have explicitly identified AI as one of the catalysts for achieving these goals, creating a powerful synergy between environmental outcomes and financial performance.
The architectural foundation of our strategy rests on two complementary platforms. The first, Talk to My Plant (TTMP), is our industrial-scale AI system, powered by a strategic alliance with Mistral AI, designed to create smart facilities that can be co-piloted through natural language and eventually perform autonomous actions. The second, VeoliaSecureGPT, is a democratized, internal AI tool that we have developed to empower all of our 180,000 connected employees, fostering a culture of bottom-up innovation and creating a workforce of augmented employees.
This strategic and architectural framework is substantiated by a growing portfolio of tangible AI solutions across all our business lines. From Digital Twin systems in wastewater treatment that reduce carbon footprints by up to 60%, to computer vision on our waste collection trucks that improves recycling purity, we are deploying a range of AI technologies to solve real-world environmental challenges.
Finally, our strategy is underpinned by a commitment to responsible AI. Through our engagement with the Coalition for Sustainable AI, we are proactively shaping the ethical and regulatory landscape, building the crucial social license to operate for AI in critical
infrastructure.
I believe that our AI strategy sets a new standard for the environmental services industry. It shows how we are using intelligent technology not only to strengthen commercial performance, but also to drive continuous ecological gains ‒ redefining what sustainable success looks like for an industrial leader.
