Barclays will begin testing an AI driven sustainability platform for UK SMEs from early 2026, targeting productivity, cost efficiency and emissions reduction.
The initiative focuses on SMEs, which generate around half of UK private-sector turnover and employ about 60 percent of the workforce.
The collaboration positions AI-enabled climate tools as part of mainstream transition finance rather than niche sustainability reporting.
Barclays is moving to test whether artificial intelligence can turn sustainability data into a commercial advantage for small and medium-sized businesses, announcing a collaboration with climate technology firm ExpectAI to pilot its AI-driven Una platform from early 2026.
The initiative targets a persistent gap in the UK’s transition economy. SMEs account for roughly half of private-sector turnover and employ around 60 percent of the workforce, yet many lack the internal capacity, capital or data to connect emissions reduction with operational performance. Barclays says strengthening SME energy resilience while cutting emissions is central to the UK’s economic transition, and that AI may offer a scalable route to do both.
Testing AI as a Transition Tool for SMEs
From early 2026, Barclays will test ExpectAI’s Una platform using publicly available information. The platform creates digital twins of SME operations, allowing businesses to model energy use, emissions exposure and operational performance without heavy upfront data collection.
Una is designed to generate what ExpectAI describes as an adaptive carbon profile, alongside tailored energy-efficiency recommendations. The platform also aims to connect businesses with verified solution providers and potential funding partners, with the goal of shortening the gap between insight and implementation.
Barclays said the testing phase will focus on whether AI-powered sustainability insights can translate into measurable improvements in productivity, cost efficiency and competitiveness for UK-based businesses, rather than serving only as reporting or compliance tools.
From Sustainability Data to Business Value
The collaboration reflects a broader shift in transition finance, where banks are increasingly focused on whether climate tools can drive core business outcomes. For SMEs, rising energy costs, supply-chain volatility and policy pressure are colliding at a moment when margins remain tight.
“At Barclays, we are harnessing artificial intelligence to drive efficiency, create capacity and fuel innovation, helping our people to become more productive and improving client service,” the bank said in outlining the rationale for the initiative.
Daniel Hanna, Group Head of Sustainable and Transition Finance at Barclays, framed the pilot as both client-facing and market-building. “Barclays believes that AI platforms will play an important role in supporting businesses with sustainability-related initiatives and decision-making,” he said. “Our ambition with this initiative is to support the development of an emerging climate tech business and help our clients understand the connection between sustainability and business value creation.”
The emphasis on value creation is deliberate. For many SMEs, sustainability investments are still seen as cost centres rather than drivers of resilience or growth. Barclays is testing whether AI-driven diagnostics can reframe that equation.
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Climate Tech Meets Mainstream Banking
ExpectAI positions its technology as a profitability tool as much as a climate solution. Founder and CEO Anand Verma said the company was built to address the commercial realities facing smaller businesses.
“We are delighted to be working with Barclays on this important initiative,” Verma said. “ExpectAI was founded to help SMEs become more profitable, productive and sustainable. Barclays’ long-standing focus on SMEs and their commitment to supporting clients through the transition make them the ideal organisation to advance this work. We look forward to demonstrating how this could create real value for UK-based businesses.”
The collaboration also reflects how large financial institutions are increasingly acting as early validators of climate technology, rather than only as financiers. By testing the Una platform within a banking context, Barclays is assessing whether AI tools can integrate into advisory, lending and transition support models at scale.
What Executives and Investors Should Watch
For C-suite leaders and investors, the pilot offers a signal about where transition finance is heading for the SME segment. Rather than bespoke advisory or compliance-led solutions, banks are exploring automated, data-driven platforms that can operate across thousands of businesses with limited friction.
If successful, the approach could influence how banks assess SME transition risk, structure green lending products and allocate capital toward energy efficiency upgrades. It also raises questions about governance and accountability, including how AI-generated recommendations are validated and how outcomes are measured over time.
Barclays said the initiative aligns with its broader climate ambition as outlined in its Transition Update, which focuses on working with clients on their transition, financing the transition and scaling climate technology. For the UK’s SME-heavy economy, the results of this test may help determine whether AI becomes a core infrastructure layer in the next phase of the transition, rather than an experimental add-on.
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