We investigate ESG integration from the theoretical lens of management fashion. The financial benefits and the rise of uncertainty increase the managers’ (i.e. the fashion users) demand for an effective nonmarket strategy while financial service providers (i.e. the fashion setters) in response produce rhetorics emphasizing the benefits of ESG integration, making it a new management fashion in the financial industry. Nevertheless, the interviews reveal that this management fashion may lose its efficacy shortly from such critical problems as the lack of credibility, time, incentive and ownership. Through qualitative research, we show how technology-based ESG using artificial intelligence can be an efficient and practical solution that tackles all four problems simultaneously, thereby contributing to the long-term sustainable financial markets and survival of the companies.