For danger professionals, main via 2025’s volatility has been like dwelling in an “Alice in Wonderland” unreality. Danger groups have by no means been extra essential as a perform to information their companies via challenges corresponding to geopolitical danger occasions, commerce disruption, financial volatility, and regulatory disruption. Hopefully, this work doesn’t resemble the chasing of Lewis Carroll’s well-known White Rabbit. Our newest report, The State Of Enterprise Danger Administration, 2025, showcases quite a lot of knowledge insights and graphics on industrywide and programmatic shifts impacting enterprise danger administration (ERM) packages and the way danger decision-makers are responding to them. Our knowledge reveals that:
- Cyberattacks and tech dependency convey enterprise resilience to the fore. The UnitedHealth Group breach and the worldwide disruption triggered by the CrowdStrike software program replace have been good reminders in regards to the vital position that expertise performs throughout our society. It’s thus unsurprising that 40% of native and 38% of multinational ERM leaders cited cyberattack velocity as a high danger driver. As well as, 36% of multinationals and 28% of native companies flagged overreliance on tech as a serious danger. Danger leaders should map their software program provide chains and make sure that their resilience simulations cater to a spread of tech failures — not simply cyberbreaches.
- AI and third-party dangers stay heightened. Whereas monetary, commerce, and geopolitical dangers are dominating boardroom conversations, the true shift is occurring beneath the radar. Tech distributors are embedding generative AI into core methods and ERM groups are struggling to become involved early sufficient within the course of to construct acceptable guardrails in from the start. Third-party dangers should not receiving as a lot consideration as they require regardless of rising cyberattacks and methods failures linked to third-party suppliers, such because the current spate of cyberattacks within the UK retail sector. Danger execs should prioritize speaking the ROI and worth of investing in and maturing each AI danger and third-party danger administration packages.
- Important danger occasions are extra probably when ERM is just not a boardroom concern. Almost 75% of enterprises skilled at the very least one vital danger occasion previously 12 months, and cyberattacks and IT failures account for most crucial occasions globally. Companies with out board-level ERM visibility have been 20% extra prone to endure six or extra vital occasions. Danger execs have to deal with each getting ERM taken significantly by the board but additionally getting the board to assist drive the suitable danger tradition throughout the group.
- Danger administration budgets are rising — however should not assembly the second that we’re in. Most ERM budgets are solely rising by 1–4%, barely maintaining with inflation. Solely 4% of companies count on a better than 10% enhance. Many ERM packages nonetheless battle to show ROI or align with enterprise targets, leaving many to query the worth past ticking regulatory compliance necessities. Chief danger officers want to indicate how ERM drives enterprise worth — not simply compliance — to get the funding required to make better-quality danger administration selections.
- Figuring out rising dangers units ERM packages aside. Forrester shoppers have been telling us constantly that they need their danger perform to implement the suitable guardrails to permit the enterprise to confidently and rapidly tackle dangers. Organizations keep in mind being caught out by ChatGPT and different rising applied sciences and wish to remodel the engagement and notion of their groups. From our knowledge, solely 37% of danger decision-makers reported figuring out rising dangers as their main measure of success.
Forrester shoppers wanting to debate additional can e-book a steerage session or inquiry to debate the analysis additional with any of the authors.
