Aon 2025 Global Risk Report

The Aon 2025 Global Risk Management Survey highlights what many of us in risk and cybersecurity have seen for years — a world driven by cyber risk, business disruption, and growing uncertainty.

Results

1. Cyber Risk — Still No. 1

Cyberattack and data breach remain the top global concern — both now and in the future.

But what’s changing is the complexity of cyber risk, which now includes:

✅ Rapid adoption of AI and digital platforms, creating new vulnerabilities;

✅ Supply chain interdependencies that multiply risk exposure;

✅ Growing need to integrate cyber awareness into corporate strategy and culture.

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2. Business Disruption and Systemic Risks

Executives acknowledge that resilience must evolve — it’s not just about recovery but continuity.

Aon points out that leaders in high-performing organizations use systems thinking, integrating risk management with performance and strategy. This mindset shift is crucial, especially in a world where geopolitical volatility, economic slowdown, and supply chain fragility are redefining operational risk.

3. Geopolitical & Economic Tensions

The convergence of domestic instability, global tensions, and rapid policy changes means that even indirect exposure can cause serious disruption.

Organizations that excel are those that:

✅ Combine local insights with a global risk view,

✅ Use scenario planning for regulatory and supply chain risks,

✅ Optimize financial resilience through capital and insurance innovation.

4. AI as a Future Risk

One of the most interesting findings is that AI risk is emerging rapidly as a key future threat. Aon warns that rushing to deploy untested AI solutions is already creating new attack surfaces and operational exposures.

5. Climate Change

What surprises me most is how climate risk continues to be framed as a future issue, not a current one.

What truly concerns me is the neglect of climate risk. It’s not a “future problem” — it’s a today problem. We are already living in a destabilized world, and this denial reminds me of “Do Not Look Up” — a perfect metaphor for how humanity often ignores visible threats until it’s too late. The report repeatedly mentions resilience, but I often wonder if organizations and leaders truly understand it. Resilience isn’t about bouncing back — it’s about adapting, evolving, and becoming stronger under stress. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb describes, the goal should not only be resilience but hasztag#antifragility — systems that improve and strengthen through hasztag#volatility.

Maybe it’s time for leaders to adopt this mindset, integrating it into their risk and governance frameworks.

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Author: Sebastian Burgemejster