Corporate risk tolerance and resilience strategies have undergone significant changes over the past five years, influenced by overlapping global disruptions.
Gallagher’s “Five Years of Business Risk Evolution” report surveyed 1,200 executives globally, revealing a broad shift in risk perception since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported that their organisations are now operating in a riskier global context, prompting strategic pivots toward resilience and flexibility.
Neil Hodgson, managing director of risk management solutions at Gallagher, said many businesses have moved past the belief that large-scale disruptions are rare.
“The mindset that ‘this won't happen to us’ is shifting,” he said. “Organisations are realising that they cannot prevent these crises. They will occur, and when they do, the consequences can be catastrophic. The pressing question now is: What will we do about it?”
In response to pandemic-induced volatility, 78% of firms reported modifying revenue models or entering new markets.
This included adopting “just-in-case” approaches to inventory and sourcing, with over a third expanding supplier networks and a quarter increasing reliance on domestic vendors.
Risk managers also noted a rise in business continuity planning and investment in supply chain redundancy.
New exposures have also emerged with the acceleration of digital operations. Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and automation were identified by 22% of respondents as major risk categories, while operational risks driven by inflation and geopolitical instability were cited by 19%.
People-related risks have also grown more prominent.
According to Lisanne Sison, managing director of enterprise risk management at Gallagher US, talent shortages, workforce wellness, and employee engagement are increasingly being treated as enterprise-level risks.
In North America, extreme weather events are pushing climate risk to the forefront.
Gallagher’s study noted that natural catastrophe-related concerns – especially from non-modelled secondary perils like hailstorms, wildfires, and tornadoes – are driving up loss activity.
Martha Bane, EVP and managing director at Gallagher US, said these weather-related losses are becoming more severe and widespread, prompting greater scrutiny from insurers and ongoing pricing adjustments
The research indicated a more deliberate approach to insurance and risk mitigation post-pandemic. Nearly one in five companies added risk management or resilience personnel since 2020, and 76% of those have kept those roles in place. Over half increased insurance coverage levels, and 44% added new types of policies.
More broadly, 81% of business leaders described themselves as more open to risk than five years ago, particularly among large enterprises. This trend is attributed to better access to data, internal capabilities, and risk planning tools.
In parallel, Aon’s “Client Trends 2025” report outlined four interconnected forces reshaping organisational risk:
CEO Greg Case emphasised that these megatrends create interdependent challenges.
“The interconnectedness of these trends means that leaders need access to integrated data and analytics, capabilities, and expertise to effectively respond to increasingly linked risk and people issues,” he said.
