Global Corporate Survey 2025: Risk Management Budgets, Priorities And Tech Preferences

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Corporate Risk Leaders
Tom Murphy
Tom Murphy
Katelyn Johnson

Katelyn Johnson

21 Oct, 2025

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Executive Summary

The Verdantix 2025 global corporate risk management survey captures insights from 325 senior risk executives across 16 industries and 43 countries, offering an in-depth view of how organizations are responding to a fast-changing global landscape of regulation, geopolitics and technological disruption. Our findings highlight a recalibration of priorities: while cyber security and AI adoption are accelerating, ESG and climate-related investments are slowing, amid political and regulatory headwinds. The report explores these fluctuations across the market, and considers how shifts in policy, technological maturity and stakeholder expectations will impact future priorities. 
Summary for decision makers
Global survey draws on responses from 325 risk executives, across a diverse corporate landscape
Verdantix findings indicate a pivot towards more active mitigation strategies
Risk trends show that firms are increasingly concerned with operational continuity
Cyber security emerges as a major concern, amid escalating threats to digital infrastructure
Despite a rise in global instability, organizations remain split over geopolitical risk
Implementation of AI is an overwhelming priority, but views on its efficacy are fragmented
Budgets for ESG and sustainability, and for climate risk, have generally shrunk
Focus on ESG and sustainability has begun to stall, but the future seems positive for a bounce back
Figure 1. Survey respondents: geographic breakdown
Figure 2. Survey respondents: revenue breakdown
Figure 3. Survey respondents: industry breakdown
Figure 4. Challenges to risk goals
Figure 5. Priority levels for funding process improvements over the next two years
Figure 6. Use of risk management software
Figure 7. Technology goals over the next two years
Figure 8. Spending on risk management software over the next two years
Figure 9. Impact of risk factors on spending
Figure 10. Materiality of risks over the last 12 months
Figure 11. Most significant threats over the coming year
Figure 12. Impact of geopolitics on organizations
Figure 13. Barriers to AI use in risk management
Figure 14. Future AI deployment
Figure 15. Risk functions' views on ESG
Figure 16. Impact of ESG rollback on risk management investments
Figure 17. Views on climate risk

About the Authors

Tom Murphy

Tom Murphy

Analyst

Tom is an analyst at Verdantix, specializing in third-party, GRC, reputational and geopolitical risk. His current research agenda focuses on how organizations can insulate the...

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Katelyn Johnson

Katelyn Johnson

Senior Manager

Katelyn is a Senior Manager at Verdantix, specializing in enterprise risk management and external risk and resilience. She helps executives navigate today’s evolving ris...

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