Sylvain Forté, CEO and co-founder of SESAMm, presented the following at Finovate 2022. In the presentation, Sylvain explains who SESAMm is, what SESAMm does, including examples, and how it benefits our financial clients.

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Hi, everyone. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be with you today. I’m very glad to introduce you to SESAMm. I’m Sylvain, CEO and co-founder of SESAMm.

We’re an artificial intelligence company specializing in analytics for investment professionals and [corporations]. We basically extract billions of articles and messages from the web and transform them into actionable insights to make better decisions. We’re a team of close to 100 people now, and we generate insights from more than 20 billion articles and messages.

Immediate access to daily insights

Let me jump straight to the demo and give you a practical example of what we do. So imagine you’re, for example, a bank looking to compute environmental, social, and governance risks on your portfolio on your clients or on your suppliers. Right now, you may have access to ratings, which are updated once per quarter or once per year. We can give you access immediately to timely daily data on all of your companies in order for you to better assess risks and raise early warnings.

Wirecard use case

In this specific example (Figure 1), we look at Wirecard, a company that went bankrupt due to a 2 billion fraud scandal in Germany.

We extracted dozens of thousands of articles and messages on the company, and we can immediately see that there is a huge anomaly in terms of governance risk. The company is basically exposed to fraud accusations, to lawsuits, and the like, things that you don’t really want to see in your clients or your own portfolio.

Furthermore, we can see on this chart that we can get that type of indicator every single day. And we can see that six months prior to the company’s bankruptcy, there were already huge alerts actually here in January 2020, indicating that the company was in a pretty bad situation from the perspective of web content and web data from news to social platforms, blogs, and forums.

We really have the ability to compute live insights for ESG risk, sustainability monitoring, credit, and similar topics. The advantage of the platform is that we can go very deep. You can see here (Figure 2) some of the underlying governance topics associated with Wirecard, such as fraud, embezzlement, and crime—the main accusation—but also things related to anti-competitive practices or corruption.

And furthermore, the platform enables full transparency. This is AI at scale, but the underlying content is actually text articles and messages that you can read in order to understand the situation and see why the company is in that risk position. So with our platform, with our text analysis engine (TextReveal®), you can immediately extract content on your portfolio, your clients, your suppliers, and for example, generate ESG insights, competitive insights, sentiment insights, or credit warnings, for example.

Trusted, reliable, and abundant insights

We are today trusted by major financial institutions, such as Nomura [Holdings] or Raiffeisen Bank in the banking sector, for example, or large private equity firms worldwide. The reason why they trust us is that we can provide data more quickly—so waiting one day instead of waiting three months—to get an indicator. In addition to that, we have better coverage. We’re the only company in the world that can provide information on five million different public and private companies, meaning all of your banking clients, for example, are covered. And finally, we have access to a large variety of sources, from social content to news and blogs.

Insights beyond companies

Another example that is very common—sadly right now—is clients asking us to follow the Ukraine Russia War and to understand the current situation, including by getting access to local content in local languages in Ukrainian, in Polish, in Russian, to really understand the news and social media out there.

You can see here that beyond companies, we actually track sectors, infrastructure projects, and concepts.

Here (Figure 3), Nord Stream, for example, in the context of Ukraine specifically—so as to understand how these two topics are associated on the web—we can see an explosion in terms of volumes of data over time, the news associating this concept more and more, with more than 40,000 pieces of content. And we can see that sentiment over time, as displayed on this curve (Figure 4), decreases very rapidly, so we see the shock on e-reputation, and we can observe that immediately. And, for example, as a bank or as an asset manager, we can use that to assess the potential risk to clients or portfolio companies.

The interesting thing here is that, beyond the graphs and the raw contents, we can look at where the information comes from. Here (Figure 5), you see a lot of information in German, for example, which is not surprising. And you can even follow the Russian propaganda directly from the platform, looking at Russia Today or Sputnik straight from the engine, as these are also sources that we monitor.

And as you can see, these contents are highly customizable and can be used in very specific situations. So this is really a platform as a service (PaaS) that we offer. This is an engine that tracks four million different sources of information, and we can track millions of companies but also even fuzzy concepts, countries, or topics of interest.

Generate analytics from big data with API

One last thought. A lot of our clients integrate with our API; it’s a technical solution. We work a lot with data science teams, data engineering teams, risk teams, quantitative analysts, and heads of innovation. All of these teams are looking to generate analytics from big data and from web content at scale, with solutions that are currently used by dozens of clients worldwide and for which we provide very relevant analytics.

I’ll leave you with three final calls to action.

1. The first one is come see us at our booth. We would be very happy to present the solution in a bit more detail.
2. The second is, please request a demo. You understand that these indicators can be tailored to your needs in real time. So we’ll be very happy to show you a demo at SESAMm.com.
3. And finally, come see us for a free proof-of-concept (POC). We would be very happy to show you how we incorporate these solutions in actual banking tools and in risk management tools.

So the web is now readily available as a system that you can use and that you can rely on in order to generate valuable insights. We’re very happy to provide the solution to the market and to help inform better decisions and to help monitor risks.

Thank you very much.

As we mark Earth Day 2025, it’s clear we’re at a defining moment. Despite decades of activism and innovation, the ecological crisis continues to accelerate, driven by climate change, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable resource use. But alongside this growing threat is a growing opportunity: the ability to harness artificial intelligence (AI) and data to drive more responsible business practices and environmental stewardship.

Learn “How Organizations Are Using NLP To Detect Greenwashing.”

Escalating Environmental Pressures

The warning signs are everywhere. By early 2025, Earth’s average surface temperature reached 13.0°C (55.4°F)—pushing us closer to climate tipping points. The first three months of this year were among the hottest on record, with unprecedented temperature anomalies in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Global greenhouse gas emissions reached 37.8 billion metric tons in 2024, driven largely by fossil fuel use, agriculture, and industrial output. Meanwhile, biodiversity is in sharp decline, with over 46,000 species threatened with extinction due to climate-related stressors like habitat loss, pollution, and extreme weather.

Plastic waste continues to acidify oceans, while urban sprawl and overconsumption accelerate deforestation. From fast fashion to factory farming, human activity is pushing planetary boundaries—and the consequences are becoming harder to ignore.

The Human Toll: Environmental Anxiety on the Rise

This crisis isn’t just environmental—it’s deeply personal. Younger generations are increasingly affected by eco-anxiety, a psychological response to fears of environmental collapse. Studies warn that by 2050, billions could face water scarcity, food system disruption, and mass migration from climate-affected regions. Overheated ecosystems, wildfires, and resource scarcity are not abstract threats—they’re the lived reality of millions.

The Role of AI and ESG in the Fight for a Livable Planet

Fortunately, powerful tools are emerging. Artificial intelligence is transforming how we track and respond to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. Natural language processing (NLP) can detect greenwashing, monitor corporate behavior, and surface early warning signals of environmental harm. AI is also helping companies reduce emissions, optimize energy use, and act on regulatory and reputational risks in real time.

Learn “How Successful Investors Are Using AI to Get ESG Data: A Quick Guide.”

By integrating ESG strategy with AI-powered insights, businesses are no longer passive observers but active players in shaping a sustainable future.

Hope for Change

Despite the scale of the crisis, momentum is building. From robotic wildlife conservation to AI-enabled recycling innovations, new technologies offer hope. Companies are aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and governments are responding with new ESG regulations and global climate pledges. But regulation and innovation are not enough—collective action is still key.

Conclusion

There’s no better time than Earth Day to commit to change. Whether it’s supporting environmental nonprofits, reducing your consumption, investing in sustainable products, or advocating for better policies, every action counts. Our window to act is narrowing, but it’s still open.

Happy Earth Day!

Held from June 21–29, London Climate Action Week (LCAW) 2025 brought together over 45,000 participants across 700+ events, emphasizing London’s role as a global hub for climate finance and leadership. As geopolitical uncertainty clouds climate ambitions, this year’s event signaled a broader market pivot: investors are now prioritizing regions with regulatory clarity and policy momentum, namely Europe and Asia.

A joint survey from Bain & Company and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, released during the week, found that 75% of global firms now prefer to invest in Europe or Asia for climate-related initiatives. Over half reported a declining appetite for U.S.-based projects, citing inconsistent federal climate policies and rising political risk.

Policy Signals from the UK

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband used the event to announce a bold step forward: the government will invest £30 billion annually in clean energy infrastructure through 2035. His remarks positioned the UK as a “clean energy superpower,” with a dual focus on energy security and economic renewal.

He also outlined plans for new corporate sustainability reporting standards, a move intended to improve transparency, build investor confidence, and ensure alignment with the UK's net-zero targets. These commitments were part of the UK’s post-Brexit green industrial strategy, distinguishing it from recent ESG policy slowdowns in Brussels and Washington.

Climate Finance and Market Confidence

 One of the most prominent themes throughout the week was capital mobilization. At the “Finance Live” forum, asset managers, banks, and insurers debated how to align their portfolios with net-zero goals while navigating geopolitical instability and rising greenwashing scrutiny. Key discussions included scaling blended finance vehicles, investing in transition technologies, and strengthening ESG data governance.

Meanwhile, sessions like the Nature Hub spotlighted biodiversity and natural capital, moving beyond carbon to more holistic definitions of environmental value. This reflects a growing consensus that an effective climate strategy must include nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration.

The Broader Message: A Shift in Global Climate Leadership

While the U.S. backtracks on core climate regulations, London and Europe are entering a leadership void. For global investors, that means that developing a climate strategy now includes not only where to invest but also where to trust. In that context, LCAW 2025 offered both policy and finance updates and a credibility reset.

The takeaway is clear: in an age of fragmented regulation and climate politicization, market trust flows towards stability. London Climate Action Week didn’t just reflect that shift; it helped define it.