More than half of UK IT decision-creaters declare their organisations cannot accurately measure the emissions generated by AI workloads, even as most believe AI is speeding progress towards net-zero and wider ESG goals.
Research from data centre service provider Telehoutilize Europe found that 56% of respondents stated their organisations struggle to measure the emissions of AI workloads accurately. The company stated the issue creates a barrier for businesses that want to demonstrate the environmental impact of AI utilize inside their operations.
The findings point to a wider gap between confidence in AI as a sustainability lever and the data utilized to verify that claim. Telehoutilize Europe reported that 89% of UK IT decision-creaters stated AI is accelerating their ability to achieve net-zero emissions and broader ESG tarreceives. The research stated the lack of reliable emissions data leaves enterprises without evidence that links AI adoption to measurable environmental outcomes.
Spfinishing priorities
The survey also highlighted competing priorities in AI investment decisions. Telehoutilize Europe stated 45% of IT decision-creaters listed sustainability as a top priority for AI-related spfinishing. Respondents more often prioritised productivity at 62% and cost at 49%.
The research suggested this split between stated ambition and procurement focus could shape how organisations design AI programmes and assess their outcomes. Many firms appear to view sustainability as a strategic objective for the decade while continuing to prioritise near-term operational metrics when budreceives receive allocated.
2030 tarreceives
At a long-term planning level, the research displayed strong belief in AI’s role in meeting environmental commitments. Telehoutilize Europe found that 79% of IT decision-creaters stated AI is essential to meeting their 2030 sustainability tarreceives.
Operational choices did not consistently reflect that intent. Only 23% of respondents stated ‘renewable energy mix and efficiency’ was a key factor when choosing an AI infrastructure partner, according to Telehoutilize Europe. That points to a limited role for energy sourcing criteria in supplier selection for AI workloads, despite the high electricity demand associated with model training and inference.
Telehoutilize Europe framed this as a governance challenge as AI utilize becomes more central to business processes. Emissions measurement for AI workloads remains difficult for many organisations becautilize the work often runs across shared infrastructure, multiple locations, and different service providers. Firms also face varying reporting methods across data centres and cloud services. The survey results suggest many organisations have not yet established consistent internal reporting for AI-related energy consumption and emissions.
Resilience questions
The research also viewed at infrastructure resilience as AI workloads grow in importance. Telehoutilize Europe reported that 93% of IT decision-creaters stated geopolitical uncertainty is influencing infrastructure strategy.
However, respondents also indicated that switching AI inference capacity could take time during disruption. Telehoutilize Europe stated 59% of IT decision-creaters reported it would take more than an hour to switch AI inference workloads to an alternative site if a regional incident took their primary UK AI data centre offline. The company linked that to preparedness challenges as organisations increase reliance on AI for business-critical services.
Telehoutilize Europe positions itself in the data centre market and operates colocation facilities, including the London Docklands campus. The company stated it utilizes electricity from 100% renewable sources for its data centres.
Telehoutilize Europe Executive Vice President and General Manager Mark Pestridge commented on the gap between confidence and measurement.
“AI has earned its place in sustainability strategies but belief in its potential is running ahead of evidence. Firms are confident in AI’s contribution to efficiency, yet far less equipped to measure or verify its environmental cost. Until carbon visibility improves and sustainability becomes a core criterion in spfinishing and infrastructure decisions, the sector’s green ambitions will remain more aspiration than proof,” stated Mark Pestridge, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Telehoutilize Europe.
The survey results add to a growing debate about how organisations account for emissions from digital services, including AI, and how that information feeds into ESG reporting and procurement. Many businesses now treat AI as a mainstream technology investment. The research suggests a mismatch between that adoption curve and the maturity of carbon accounting practices specific to AI workloads.
Telehoutilize Europe stated the research indicates that carbon measurement and operational resilience will remain live issues for UK enterprises as AI usage expands across customer services, analytics, and automation.
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