About
About Michael Poisson
Founder, Fenceline Ratings
Background
Michael Poisson has spent two decades building the commercial infrastructure behind institutional ESG and sustainability data. As Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Director at IdealRatings, he grew the company from early-stage operations into a recognized global ESG data provider — scaling revenue tenfold over nine years and positioning the platform inside the core data supply chain for institutional investors and asset managers managing trillions in AUM.
He later founded a sustainability consulting practice from scratch at Triumvirate Environmental, building the offering, go-to-market strategy, and client model from the ground up.
He is the author of The ESG Data Revolution: Sustainable Fuel for Tomorrow's Business, an Amazon Best Seller examining how ESG data infrastructure is reshaping investment decision-making and corporate accountability.
Michael founded Fenceline Ratings after observing a gap none of the existing ESG or sustainability frameworks were built to close: the market has no reliable way to distinguish nominal governance — paper approvals, symbolic oversight — from real governance — enforceable community consent with practical veto points — in data center infrastructure. Fenceline applies the same discipline he brought to institutional ESG data for two decades to this new blind spot: rigorous, evidence-based, and built for the investors and lenders who need to price the risk correctly.
Areas of Deep Expertise
Institutional ESG Data Infrastructure
Two decades building and scaling the data supply chains that institutional investors and asset managers rely on for ESG decision-making — from early-stage platforms to globally recognized providers.
Community Consent & Governance Risk
Developed the analytical framework distinguishing nominal governance — paper approvals and symbolic oversight — from enforceable community consent with practical veto points in data center siting.
AI Infrastructure Ratings
Building the first institutional ratings methodology purpose-built for the AI infrastructure buildout, giving investors and lenders a credible, evidence-based tool to price governance and consent risk.
Revenue & Commercial Strategy
Proven track record scaling revenue and building go-to-market models for data and analytics businesses serving institutional finance — from zero to recognized market position.
Sustainability Consulting
Founded and built a sustainability consulting practice at Triumvirate Environmental, developing the service offering, client model, and market strategy from the ground up.
Investment Risk Analysis
Advisory work for investors and lenders evaluating data center assets where community opposition, permitting fragility, or governance gaps represent unpriced downside risk.
Why Fenceline
The AI infrastructure buildout is moving faster than the governance frameworks designed to oversee it. Permits get issued. Community opposition gets managed. And investors assume the approvals they see represent the consent they need.
They often don't. Fenceline Ratings exists to close that gap — applying the same rigor that transformed ESG data from a compliance checkbox into a genuine investment input to the question the market hasn't yet learned to ask: is the community consent behind this project real, or is it paper?