How Fortive Uses AI to Drive ESG in Healthcare Tech

Fortive's portfolio spans critical healthcare technologies that ensure medical device safety, protect against radiation exposure and automate essential clinical workflows.

As regulatory demands intensify across the healthcare sector, the company is leveraging Datamaran's AI-driven platform to strengthen environmental, social and governance (ESG) governance and scale sustainability strategies across its diverse operating companies.

The partnership enables Fortive to move from isolated assessments to consistent, repeatable processes that could support responsible growth across its healthcare and industrial divisions.

With ten inventor brands under its umbrella, the company's Advanced Healthcare Solutions segment is particularly positioned to benefit from enhanced risk monitoring and compliance capabilities.

Scaling stakeholder engagement in healthcare

Fortive encountered significant challenges in managing stakeholder engagement across its complex portfolio of subsidiaries, particularly within healthcare operations where regulatory requirements are stringent and diverse. Conducting meaningful materiality assessments across different stakeholder groups, from clinical professionals to regulatory bodies, proved difficult to manage efficiently.

The company's early centralised assessments in 2018 were largely manual and limited in scope, restricting its ability to capture broad stakeholder input across healthcare and industrial segments. As ESG regulatory requirements evolved, particularly around healthcare safety and environmental standards, greater structure and rigour in governance processes became essential.

To address these challenges, Fortive implemented Datamaran to power its materiality analysis, providing real-time visibility into emerging ESG topics relevant to healthcare operations. The platform enables end-to-end ESG monitoring across business units, including those developing medical devices and radiation protection technologies.

"Datamaran helps us focus less on the administrative aspects of sustainability strategy and more on the insights and strategic action," says Drake Becker, Director of Sustainability at Fortive. "It's not just a tool, it's a partner. The platform gives us confidence, consistency and efficiency as we navigate the changing landscape."

Integration across healthcare operations

Datamaran is now integrated across multiple functions at Fortive, delivering value throughout the organisation, including its healthcare technology operations. According to Dónal Ó Mearáin, Director of Demand Generation at Datamaran, writing on LinkedIn, manual tracking can leave gaps that risk non-compliance or missed opportunities, particularly problematic in healthcare where regulatory oversight is intensive.

"Fortive faced this exact issue," Dónal writes. "By implementing Datamaran, they replaced fragmented processes with end-to-end monitoring, enabling continuous visibility of emerging ESG topics, peer moves and regulatory shifts across their global business."

The sustainability team leads platform use for materiality assessments and regulatory alignment, whilst legal and compliance teams, including the General Counsel, Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, rely on it to benchmark and monitor ESG-related risks affecting healthcare operations. Risk management teams embed materiality analysis outputs directly into enterprise risk assessments.

Cross-functional subject matter experts have contributed to more robust materiality analysis, generating deeper insights into issues affecting workplace safety in healthcare settings and enterprise performance. These assessments have helped shape sustainability programme pillars and risk management strategy across both healthcare and industrial segments.

Strategic partner in healthcare governance

The implementation has improved both the efficiency and quality of Fortive's ESG assessments and disclosures, reinforcing a culture of safety and innovation critical to healthcare technology development.

ESG intelligence is now seamlessly integrated into compliance and governance processes, supporting Fortive's purpose of innovating essential technologies to keep healthcare environments safe and productive.

"Datamaran provides a comprehensive, data-driven view of the sustainability and risk landscape that is essential for informed, enterprise-level decision-making," adds Pete Underwood, SVP and Chief Legal Officer at Fortive. "It enables our leadership team to act with confidence, align strategy across our diverse operating companies and anticipate emerging risks before they impact the business."

The platform has become integral to how Fortive approaches strategic planning across its healthcare operations. By providing consistent ESG intelligence, it enables leadership to make informed decisions that balance innovation with regulatory compliance and stakeholder expectations in an increasingly complex healthcare technology landscape.

Beyond the platform itself, ongoing regulatory updates, newsletters and expert briefings from Datamaran have enabled Fortive to stay ahead of rapidly evolving disclosure requirements affecting healthcare technologies.

Datamaran continues to equip Fortive's teams with intelligence needed to prioritise emerging issues, manage risks and opportunities, and stay ahead of evolving regulations in healthcare and industrial sectors.

Success metrics highlight more than 40% reduction in materiality assessment project time through automation and streamlined collaboration, allowing teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than administrative tasks. Real-time global regulatory tracking has improved regulatory agility, removing delays associated with outsourcing or manual diligence and strengthening Fortive's ability to remain compliant across its healthcare technology operations.