Impact Investing and Impact Measurement in the Age of AI – Findings from AOM 2025

The annual conference of the Academy of Management (AOM) took place in Copenhagen from July 25 to 29, 2029. Besides Prof. Busch, who was one of the speakers on the panel "Impact Investing and Impact Measurement in the Age of AI: Que Vadis?", Lara Schröder from the Chair of Management & Sustainability also participated in the PhD consortium and the conference.

The panel symposium on impact investing, measurement, and AI addressed challenges for investors and start-ups, in particular the challenge of quantifying the real economic impact on the environment and society using indicators.

Against this backdrop, the use of AI was critically examined. It can be particularly helpful when the measurement methodology has been identified and data is available. Generative AI, for example, helps to summarize and structure unstructured data, while predictive AI was discussed primarily in terms of its ability to predict future developments. In addition, all panel participants affirmed the added value of AI in contextualizing data.

In addition to the symposium, two papers by Prof. Busch and co-authors were presented at the conference. The working paper “Reflecting and Refracting Purpose in Impact Investment” by Timo Busch, Sarah Carroux, Ibrat Djabbarov, and Falko Paetzold examines the intentionality of family offices, while the paper "The Micro-Processes of Transitioning to a Circular Economy Through Capital Allocation: A Case of the Investment Field" by Julia Anne Gross, Fenna Blomsma, Ibrat Djabbarov, and Timo Busch analyzes how asset management firms reduce uncertainties regarding the risk-return ratio in circular value chains.

Further information on AOM 2025 is available here.