As the digital economy drives corporate financial results, the role of non-financial performance, such as environmental practices, especially seen through the prism of microscopic levels, is equally remarkable. Under the dual background of digital economy and double carbon targets, this paper selects 960 Chinese A-share listed enterprises from 2010 to 2021 as research samples, empirically analyzing the impact of digital transformation on corporate ESG performance and the mechanism between them based on corporate governance theory, information asymmetry theory, resource-based theory and upper echelons theory by the two-way fixed effect model and the moderated mediation model. The results indicate that: (1) Digital transformation can empower corporate ESG performance; (2) Green innovation plays a partially mediating role between them; (3) Executives’ foreign experience can positively moderate the relationship between digital transformation and green innovation. These findings remain robust after a series of tests, and digital transformation has a more significant effect on corporate ESG performance in eastern and state-owned enterprises.