Scott Lane

“Assurance builds trust. Great assurance builds trust and value.”

“Audit has been sold the wrong way for decades — a slow, bespoke engagement only large companies can navigate.”

“Sustainability and AI aren't two separate beats anymore. They're one discipline now.”

“A ratings analyst doesn't want a good story. They want an evidence chain: where a number came from, who signed off, what changed since last year.”

“Behavioural change, not better systems, is the real work behind compliance and sustainability.”

“We found Scott incredibly helpful in guiding us through our assurance project — he knows exactly how it works, and where we'd struggle.”

“Scott is incredibly knowledgeable at quickly identifying why issues are happening in our business. He helps us pinpoint the causal link with the right questions, letting us reach that realization ourselves rather than just telling us the answer.”

“We've had several executive education courses delivered by Scott — he's a great trainer who takes the time to explain complex things in simple terms.”

“Scott always brings a business lens that reminds us why sustainability and compliance need to serve the business and our customers.”

The AHA Framework: ESG Assurance Human-AI Task Allocation

Scott's capstone research asks a specific question: where does human judgment remain irreplaceable in AI-augmented ESG assurance? The project is building the AHA Framework from empirical research rather than testing it against one, grounded in Speeki's own AI auditor, Nicole, as the primary case study. It triangulates three sources: structured interviews with practitioners and clients, analysis of Nicole's own task logs and quality records, and a clause-by-clause read of ISSA 5000, AA1000AS v3 and the IIA's 2025 standards to map where human judgment is required but left undefined.

Return on Planet (ROP): A Metric for Executive Compensation

Scott is developing Return on Planet (ROP), a strategy-first metric that ties executive pay to planetary impact with the same rigour boards already apply to return on equity. It responds to a measurable failure: the average ESG metric drives less than 5% of performance-linked pay and explains under 1% of the variation in what executives actually earn, leaving accountability to training-completion targets, ratings bumps and discretionary committee scores that are designed to be achieved. Rather than importing an external checklist, ROP starts with the board's own strategy — the board selects which environmental pillars matter, weights them, chooses independently verifiable indicators, and sets targets rigorous enough to actually be missed, all reduced to a single 0–100 composite score as easy to disclose as ROE. Its distinctive move is a credibility layer: governance pillars for speak-up culture, whistleblower effectiveness and anti-bribery controls (benchmarked to ISO 37001), plus a planetary-culture pillar, on the argument that environmental numbers cannot be trusted unless the organisation's integrity and culture make them credible and durable. The model is open for any board to adapt and is being paired with an interactive calculator and methodology guide for compensation committees.