The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene a session, AI, Sustainability, and the Future Workforce: Building Capacity for an Earth-Aligned Transition during the National Sustainability Society’s Third Annual Conference on August 18, 2026 at Colorado State University in Denver, Colorado. Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping sustainability research, policy, and practice. Yet the central question is not only what AI can do, but whether institutions, educational systems, and the workforce are prepared to use it wisely, equitably, and within ecological limits. This session will examine AI’s dual role in sustainability: as a potentially transformative tool for discovery, modeling, decision support, and operational efficiency, and as a source of new challenges, including rising energy and water demands, expanding data-center footprints, and changing expectations for work and expertise.Agenda, August 18, 2026, 10:30-11:45 am MDT Moderators: Christopher Boone (University of Southern California) and Franklin Carrero-Martínez (National Academies) Panelists: Elizabeth Shelly (Google), Alton D. Romig Jr. (National Academy of Engineering), and Julie Newman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)