New software platform Simple: AI provides companies with robust real-time data on their CO₂e emissions for the first time

AI makes it possible: For the first time, the Simple platform  (https://itssimple.com)relies on an activity-based calculation of CO₂e emissions rather than the common practice of estimating greenhouse-gas emissions based on the monetary value of purchased goods and services. This makes Scope-3 emissions measurable with precision, efficiency and at low cost for the first time. It is based on scientifically robust Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data, which the AI automatically extracts from invoices, quotations and delivery notes. As a result, organisations have not only data for reporting, but also data to compare suppliers' sustainability and to make informed procurement decisions in real time.

VIENNA, GOTHENBURG, Sweden and OSAKA, Japan, Nov. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Figures on CO₂ equivalents and emissions collected and published by companies and institutions today often rely on rough estimates, averages and systemically questionable industry standards.

Access to accurate, current and scientifically sound data presents many companies with major financial, technical and substantive challenges. The collection of so-called Scope-3 data – the indirect greenhouse-gas emissions generated along a company's supply and value chain – is particularly complex, time-consuming and costly. Yet these supply-chain emissions can account for up to 90 per cent of a company's total emissions.

In the absence of available data, important management decisions, as well as legal and political requirements around CO₂e emissions, are often based on theoretical values and unrealistic assumptions, or are not recorded at all.

These problems are now solved by the new AI software platform 'Simple', developed by the Swedish-Austrian technology company of the same name (https://itssimple.com) and, following a successful test phase, recently presented publicly together with finance and sustainability experts.

The Simple AI software enables companies to collect their CO₂e emissions cost-effectively and even in real time, based on realistic and scientifically sound data.

Simple not only facilitates and accelerates compliance with statutory reporting obligations. With AI support, companies can, for the first time, automatically determine the CO₂e footprint of planned purchases or investments in advance, or compare quotations in terms of sustainability and environmental impact.

Mattias Brodendal, founder of Simple, says: 'Anyone wishing to make strategically sound decisions needs reliable and precise data quickly. When it comes to greenhouse gases, that is the biggest challenge that many companies, institutions and political decision-makers are failing at today. The calculation of CO₂e emissions is often based on inaccurate estimates that usually rely on industry averages and use the price of a product or service as the basis.'

Lower prices, less CO₂e — the absurd 'spend-based method' has had its day thanks to AI

Those who negotiate better in procurement or secure higher discounts by purchasing larger quantities today often also reduce the reported CO₂e emissions of a product or their company, at least on paper. This is because many industries and auditing firms still apply the so-called 'spend-based calculation method', in which greenhouse-gas emissions are simply estimated based on the financial value of purchased goods and services. However, this approach is neither accurate nor effective in climate policy terms, nor is it resource efficient.

Scope-3 made easy: data foundations and AI make the difference

While most software products on the market draw on simple 'spend-based databases', Simple uses AI to determine scientifically grounded CO₂e data individually from a company's invoices, delivery notes or quotations – 'activity-based' and in real time. Every single item or service on an invoice is captured and its emissions value calculated. Estimates based on total expenditure, and the inaccurate CO₂e data that result, are now a thing of the past with Simple.

The collection and calculation of so-called Scope-3 data has until now been particularly costly, cumbersome and, at the same time, inaccurate. These are the emissions that do not arise directly within a company but along the value chain, from production through to the disposal of products. These emissions can account for up to 90 per cent of total corporate emissions. With Simple, Scope-3 emissions data can also be collected based on specific activities, quantities or delivery routes. The underlying data comprise thousands of scientifically robust Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) datasets that the Simple AI evaluates worldwide in a very short time.

Andreas Wiesmüller, founder of Simple, explains: 'To reduce CO₂e emissions as a company, I first need to know where they arise and to what extent. I can only make sound decisions if I can do that as quickly as possible, at low cost and with sufficient data depth. It becomes operationally significant when I can choose the most sustainable supplier already at the quotation stage. Our ambition was to make that decision-making basis simple. And we can now create those data foundations.'

For the immediate calculation of their companies' CO₂e emissions, users simply upload invoices, quotations or delivery notes to the Simple platform, individually, in batches or automatically via software interfaces. The AI reads the data and delivers CO₂e emissions at item level in near real time. Billing is per invoice ('pay per bill'), with costs in the low cent range. Compared with previous CO₂e assessments, companies save massively.

Felix Miller, founder of Simple, adds: 'Alongside the ambition to deliver the most accurate data in real time, development was also about ease of use. Although large corporations have particularly great potential to reduce CO₂e, as many stakeholders as possible should be able to obtain valid data quickly. Whether we are talking about globally active industrial groups, municipalities and cities, or SMEs. Only those who know their own CO₂e footprint can take steps to reduce it.'

CO₂ emissions are more than just a climate issue

Experts from the business community also agree that reducing CO₂e emissions is not only important for climate policy but will increasingly be necessary in future due to resource scarcity. And it will become a competitive advantage. Prof. Dr Kai Andrejewski, now Senior Partner at Agora Strategy Group and formerly Managing Partner at KMPG and CFO at Sixt SE, underlines the importance of robust data for the economy: 'If, as a company, I can use AI to optimise resource consumption in the supply chain, that is a real advantage. Because regardless of how the EU positions itself politically on the climate issue and which regulations will come into effect: resources are becoming scarcer and more expensive. CO₂e emissions in the supply chain are an excellent KPI for identifying future resource bottlenecks.'

Internationally recognised sustainability expert Klaus Rainer Kirchhoff is also convinced that solutions like Simple are needed to manage strategically sustainably and communicate credibly: 'What I see in practice is that many companies are currently extremely unsettled. The costs of collecting CO₂e data have been enormous, the accuracy leaves much to be desired and data quality is often questionable. With an AI solution like Simple, which for the first time makes it possible not only to report but to predict the CO₂e footprint in high data depth, and thus to make procurement decisions, CO₂e data finally gain the strategic importance they should have.'

Simple integration, simple to use

With Simple, not only large companies and corporations but also public-sector bodies, institutions and SMEs can access valid data and make the right decisions. The software platform is almost self-explanatory and easy to implement. Interfaces to existing ERP systems for automation are either already available or can be implemented quickly.

The value of Simple is also underlined by companies that have already been able to evaluate it extensively in a multi-month test phase, such as Scanfast. Scanfast uses Simple to transform complex data into clear climate information. Through automated processing and detailed analyses, the company saves time while gaining a deeper understanding of its environmental impact. These insights now support both collaboration with suppliers and customer relations.

Henrik Kleveros, CDO at Scanfast: 'Simple has given us the ability to analyse our data at a level of detail that was previously unattainable. The automation behind the platform saves our team a lot of time and ensures that we always have reliable and up-to-date insights. It has completely changed the way we work with sustainability data.'

Simple is now available to businesses, institutions and policymakers, and will also be represented at this year's Web Summit.

About Simple AI
The Simple AI platform makes it possible to determine CO₂e emissions in near real time based on invoices or delivery notes. Life Cycle Assessment data are used as the data foundation, with AI enabling the complex calculation.

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