Green AI: 5 Ways Business Leaders Can Use AI Sustainably in 2025
Intro
The world-wide implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the way company leaders conduct business from optimizing daily operations to up-leveling marketing strategies, the value is undeniable. However, is there a bigger picture to consider in this rush for innovation? Founder of Huffington Post and Thrive Global, Arianna Huffington, says the best business is done mindfully. With knowledge that the use of AI directly impacts the environment, is there a way to approach it responsibly while staying competitive? Green AI also known as Eco-AI is the practice of developing and using AI in a way that reduces its environmental impact and promotes sustainably. Let’s explore the top 5 ways businesses can implement Green AI into their strategies in 2025.
Top 5 Ways Businesses Can Use Green AI
- Choose Green Vendors
A few leading cloud AI platforms including Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have chosen to be proactive and transparent with their company’s environmental impact investing heavily in clean energy and reporting their progress. Although there have been notable challenges, their action and transparency reveal a certain degree of awareness and responsibility that not all platforms provide. Google has matched 100% of its electricity usage with renewable energy since 2017 and is aiming for carbon-free energy around-the-clock by 2030. Microsoft has pledged to be carbon-negative by 2030 (removing more CO2 that it emits). AWS reached 85% renewable power in 2022 and is targeting 100% by this year. Most managed IT services in Chicago and San Diego partner with platforms and work with the vendors directly. Whether you choose to work with one of the top platforms directly or through an IT services management firm, selecting companies that are practicing Green AI initiatives support the environment. Below are a few examples of what how other companies are taking responsibility for their environmental impact:
2. Choose the Right-Size Model:
These days each AI platform offers various options for users to choose from, whether it’s a model that focuses on creative writing, coding, research, optimizing daily tasks or sometimes all of the above – selecting the best fit for your business needs takes a certain level of model knowledge. How do you know which one to choose and why? In terms of business production, each platform offers a small to medium size model designed to optimize daily business operations. These models can balance speed, cost and reasoning efficiently with significantly less impact on the environment than a larger model. To put it in perspective – if a small model uses the same amount of gas as a scooter, a large model uses the same amount of fuel as a Diesel truck. Large models are usually designed for expert-level advanced reasoning and complex capabilities. The environmental impact of using a large model is significantly greater than using a small or medium one. Let’s take a look below at the top platforms’ small to medium options that do not use large models and are still great for daily business tasks:
3. Use AI Only Where It Counts:
These days AI is everywhere and only growing, it can become so easy to rely upon it and simply lean on it just a little more. However, before adding an AI feature, ask if it’s truly necessary or if a non-AI solution exists. Disable or avoid “nice-to-have” AI features that don’t justify the footprint.
4. Optimize Your Prompts and Usage:
Depending upon the model, infrastructure and prompt length, one AI search inquiry can equal up to 70x (or even more) the energy demand than a conventional search. This is a great reason to optimize your inquiry, but how does one do that? One great example includes the acronym R.O.C.K. – which stands for Role, Objective, Community and Key. This can help your team organize their input while saving time and energy. It can apply to any position such as accounting, assistant, or even the CEO. For this instance, let’s say your marketing person was looking to create an online campaign, they would simply enter their role, a few details of the campaign, target market for the community and the key which would consist of a description of tone, style and any related parameters. This keeps input and output clean – aesthetically and environmentally.
5. Avoid Idle AI Resources:
Be aware of how and when your AI-related tasks run. If your team is doing heavy data crunching with AI, consider running it at night or on schedules, especially if you can align with when electricity is cleaner or when it won’t draw power during peak grid times. Of course, this isn’t always possible but keeping it in mind will help you and your team make decisions with clarity. Additionally, if you have hardware such as powerful PCs or server in the office make sure they have power-saving settings enabled. Modern GPUs and CPUs have modes to throttle down when full power isn’t needed. Enable those or simply shut down the machines after work hours. Many businesses leave servers running around-the-clock out of convenience, but if that server is only used from 8am to 5pm, it could sleep or offload tasks to the cloud at night.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the future of business is undeniably tech- and AI-driven. Stepping back to see the whole picture, it is clear that success in this new era depends on clarity, pace and responsibility. Leaders who embrace technology and AI mindfully – choosing sustainable vendors, selecting efficient models, using AI only when it adds value, optimizing prompts and eliminating unnecessary compute – will not only reduce their organization’s environmental footprint but also stand out as forward-thinking, responsible brands.
