Every year, large UK companies must publish statements on how they tackle modern slavery in their supply chains, but most of these reports are too vague to be useful. This matters because manual review of these statements is slow, costly, and inconsistent. An analysis of 100 major companies found that only about one-third were clear and readable, just 25% disclosed key performance indicators, and only 12% showed evidence that those indicators actually informed decisions. With around 50 million people trapped in modern slavery worldwide, regulators, investors, and civil society groups lack reliable tools to identify risks or hold companies accountable. Anti-Slavery Intelligence is an AI-powered platform that automatically analyses these statements in minutes instead of months. It produces transparent compliance scores, benchmarks companies against peers, and gives practical recommendations for improvement. If successful, the tool could transform how investors screen portfolios, how regulators monitor compliance, and how companies move from generic disclosures to measurable action. It also ensures that civil society organisations—not just well-funded institutions—can access comparable evidence to support advocacy and drive better corporate behaviour.
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Modern slavery affects around 50 million people worldwide. In the UK, large companies (=£36m turnover) must publish annual modern slavery statements, but the quality and consistency of these reports vary widely, making effective oversight difficult. Manual review at scale is slow, costly, and inconsistent, which limits the ability of investors, civil society, regulators and companies themselves to identify risks and drive improvement. Our research with the Financial Reporting Council and the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner examined statements from 100 major companies and found systemic weaknesses: only about one-third were clear and readable; just 25% disclosed key performance indicators (KPIs); and only 12% showed evidence that KPIs informed decisions. These findings confirm that today’s approach does not reliably support accountability or better outcomes. Anti-Slavery Intelligence is an AI-powered platform that automatically analyses corporate modern slavery statements, producing transparent compliance scores, benchmarking, and practical recommendations for improvement. The tool converts a manual, months-long process into minutes, enabling portfolio-scale analysis for investors, standardized evaluation for regulators and CSOs, and immediate feedback for companies seeking to strengthen their reporting and practices. Aims and objectives • Build and refine an explainable AI model aligned to recognised reporting expectations to evaluate statements consistently at scale. • Provide clear, evidence-based recommendations that help companies move beyond generic disclosures to KPI-driven action. • Create a benchmark database to track trends over time and enable sector and portfolio comparisons. • Run structured pilots to validate usability, impact, and pricing across investor, corporate, regulator and CSO segments. • Ensure ethical use by analysing only public statements and enabling access for CSOs, not just well-funded institutions. Why this matters now Stakeholders across the ecosystem have validated the need. CCLA Investment Management has provided over 100 labelled statements to support model development; WikiRate, the Slave-Free Alliance, and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) have all affirmed the demand for standardized, scalable assessment. We also submitted written evidence (FLS0006) to the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry on forced labour in UK supply chains (published 2 July 2025). In 2025, UK parliamentary reviews and government updates— including the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into forced labour in supply chains and the Home Office’s revised Transparency in Supply Chains statutory guidance—have intensified the need for reliable, comparable metrics to assess modern-slavery disclosures. Potential applications and benefits Investors can conduct rapid, portfolio-wide screening and monitoring to strengthen ESG due diligence and stewardship. Companies receive a concrete improvement roadmap tied to identified gaps, helping them meet legal expectations and respond to stakeholder scrutiny. Regulators and policymakers gain macro-level visibility of compliance and quality to inform supervision and policy development. Civil society organisations (CSOs) and the wider public get easier access to comparable evidence that supports advocacy and encourages better corporate behaviour. Building on an ARC Launch experience and an Impact Acceleration Account award, we have a working live prototype and active engagement with stakeholders including the GLAA, Unseen and the Home Office. ARC Accelerate will help us complete market validation, refine the business model (including social-venture options), and scale the technology and user experience so that Anti-Slavery Intelligence can become the sector’s reference standard for modern slavery statement assessment.
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