SAP EcoTrace

Automated sustainability reporting: invoices are classified, data extracted, analyzed, and turned into a complete AI-generated pollution score and ESG report.

Comment

Inspiration

With CSRD making sustainability reporting mandatory for almost all companies by 2026, organizations still rely on manual invoice checking, email searching, and spreadsheet work. We wanted a system that automates everything end-to-end.

What it does

SAP EcoTrace automatically:

  • Detects sustainability-related emails and invoices
  • Classifies them by category using SAP AI Core
  • Extracts key ESG metrics (kWh, liters, m³, emissions, cloud usage, costs)
  • Removes duplicates, harmonizes units, and stores clean data
  • Flags anomalies through an AI-powered invoice detector
  • Waits for user validation and syncs the decision back into the database
  • Displays live ESG analytics in a web dashboard
  • Generates on-demand or yearly ESG reports including AI explanations and charts

How we built it

SAP Build Process Automation runs two workflows:

Workflow 1: Email + Data Pipeline

  • Periodic email trigger
  • SAP AI Core classification + metric extraction
  • Anomaly detection on the SAP Build side
  • Validation request sent to the user
  • Results synced back to the web app
  • Clean data appended to a Google Sheet ESG database

Workflow 2: Reporting Engine

  • Triggered yearly or manually from the dashboard
  • Aggregates all ESG metrics
  • Builds graphs (time series, spend by category, distributions)
  • Uses SAP AI Core to generate narrative insights
  • Assembles a polished ESG PDF report with charts and company branding

Challenges

Handling inconsistent invoice structures Achieving reliable AI extraction and unit harmonization Designing a safe human-in-the-loop validation cycle Embedding charts into PDFs without distortion Keeping workflows stable across multiple systems

Accomplishments

Fully automated pipeline from email → AI → dashboard → ESG report Robust anomaly detection and validation flow Clean, professional reporting with real charts and AI insights A fast, modern sustainability dashboard with time-range filtering and category analytics

What’s next

More document types & suppliers Scope 3 emission estimation Monthly ESG performance predictions Integration with SAP Analytics Cloud Advanced anomaly detection using time-series models

Built With

Share this project:

Updates