When data systems meet ecosystems: Tensions between AI platforms and vitality in corporate sustainability

Abstract

Ecosystems are not computers. They are alive, endlessly complex, and deeply intriguing. What if the data systems used to better understand living worlds could embed this more-than-human vitality? This paper examines ecosystem data tools in corporate sustainability, where AI tools have become key mediators in sustainable transitions. Drawing on desk research and empirical data with biodiversity specialists at 13 large corporations, it identifies four tensions that reveal deeper mismatches between computational systems and ecological worlds. These arise between demands for certainty and the unstable dynamics of ecosystems; between the need for data as neutral evidence and as arguments towards managing corporate trade-offs; between LLMs as tools for synthesis and the continued necessity of human interpretation; and between functional tool aesthetics and the vital attachments needed for regenerative change. From these findings, the paper articulates a more-than-human design space aligned with ecological dynamics, meaning-making, technosymbiotic relations, and transformative corporate change.