NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Third Partners, a boutique ESG and sustainability management consultancy, today opened the public beta of 3P/AI, agentic AI tools that automate sustainability reporting and show companies how they compare with competitors. The launch comes as California’s first SB 253 emissions reports are due on November 10, 2026, while companies are cutting the sustainability staff who would normally lead them, leaving compliance, finance, risk, and other managerial functions scrambling to execute.
The number of chief sustainability officers at U.S. public companies fell 10 percent to 193 as of July 1, the first decline in 15 years, according to Weinreb Group data reported by Trellis. In another Trellis report, 44% of organisations report that leaders are placing greater emphasis on the business case for sustainability.
SB 253 applies to companies with more than $1 billion in revenue that do business in California, and first-year filings cover Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with Scope 3 to follow. However, customer questionnaires from EcoVadis, CDP, and retailers such as Costco are already reaching smaller companies with far fewer people available to answer them.
“Sustainability teams are exhausted by the endless data scavenger hunt, and merely checking the compliance box in today’s market leaves money on the table while consuming way too many internal resources,” said John Haugen, Co-Founder and Principal at Third Partners. “We engineered 3P/AI to slice through performative ESG clutter.”
As businesses, their employees and customers struggle with persistently high costs and challenging growth outlooks for 2027, tools like 3P/AI that maximize business value from sustainability programs are increasingly imperative.
Unlike software built around carbon accounting or endless data collection, 3P/AI is built around competitive insight. It finds, reads, and ingests thousands of publicly available data points to understand a company and its industry as a discerning customer, buyer, or investor would. Three tools lead the beta:
- Automated double materiality assessment. Generates a rigorous, data-backed assessment; add stakeholder input and publish in weeks for B Corp or GRI reporting.
- Greenwashing detector. Checks marketing copy and product claims against legal frameworks to identify hidden risks before they affect brand reputation.
- Walk vs. Talk matrix. Compares what a company says with what it does, benchmarked against competitors, and turns the gaps into board-ready action plans.
3P/AI also automates responses to EcoVadis, CDP, and retailer surveys such as Costco’s 15-category Climate Data Survey, and delivers full Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas reporting, including for California SB 253, without a software subscription.
Early reactions have been strong. After the first three client demos, one participant asked, “How is it doing all that? Would’ve taken us days.” Another called it “the most exciting thing you’ve shown us,” and a third said, “I just downloaded that chart for our Board deck.” Using a 3P/AI-powered workflow, a leading global wellness brand completed a TCFD climate risk report aligned with SB 261 in just a few weeks at a fraction of the cost charged by mid-sized accounting firms.
Third Partners expects the shift toward AI-driven reporting to reshape the sustainability software market.
“Traditional sustainability software, including so-called enterprise greenhouse gas accounting platforms, are going to see a bloodbath of users fleeing to out-of-the-box AI tools and better methods, realizing they don’t need expensive subscription software to handle their SB 253 submission or that CDP or EcoVadis survey. We see that as inevitable and frankly we are excited by every opportunity to help cut the bloat from sustainability reporting,” said Adam Freedgood, Principal and Client Director at Third Partners.
3P/AI is available now in public beta through flexible “Guided Intelligence” tiers: a one-time Comprehensive Sustainability Insight Report, or a monthly plan supported by a dedicated Third Partners expert.
“Generic AI lacks the ability to understand your business context or your competitors,” said Jesse Thorson, a consulting manager at Third Partners. “3P/AI is preconfigured to continuously analyze the open web to uncover competitive gaps and deliver insights that are infinitely more valuable to your bottom line.”
To see a sample competitive intelligence report or schedule a demo, visit thirdpartners.com/contact.
About Third Partners, LLC
Third Partners is a boutique, full-service management consultancy specializing in ESG and sustainability technical advisory and outsourced implementation support. The firm partners with private, mid-market companies, sustainability managers, and executive teams, combining expert consulting with proprietary agentic AI tools that automate time-consuming analysis and reporting so managers can focus on strategy and performance improvement. For more information, visit www.thirdpartners.com.
Media contact: Adam Freedgood, Principal & Client Director, Third Partners, LLC · adam@thirdpartners.com · (646) 470-4004
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d48b26aa-7ba1-458b-b226-b31c7d98e06b
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