Global Corporate Survey 2026: Risk Management Budgets, Priorities And Tech Preferences

Report
Corporate Risk Leaders
Tom Murphy
Tom Murphy
Bill Pennington
Bill Pennington
27 Jul, 2026

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Executive Summary

The Verdantix 2026 global corporate survey for risk management analyses insights from 301 risk leaders across 41 countries and 16 industries. The survey offers insights into spending projections, business challenges and technological preferences for 2026 and beyond. Verdantix finds that geopolitical considerations and wider global risks have surged to the top of current challenges for many firms. In addition, organizations have slowed spending on risk management technologies amidst global disruption, and have taken a renewed interest in reputational risk monitoring and controls software. This report examines current and historical disruptions, risk trends and regulatory developments across the market to understand how risk leaders are adjusting their priorities in a changing world. 
Summary for decision-makers
The Verdantix 2026 global corporate risk management survey examines responses from 301 risk leaders across 16 regions
Risk management is being reshaped by simultaneous, compounding pressures
Geopolitical risk dominates internal agendas, but its impact on external strategy lags
Firms’ technology and strategic priorities show a disconnect between how they view the risk landscape and how they invest to address it
Enterprise risk and technology adoption is entering a more complex and fragmented phase of maturity
AI and emerging technologies are now in their full deployment stage, but scaling remains bound by trust and data gaps
In a crowded vendor market, firms are looking to multiple vendors for risk management solutions
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. Significance of external risks
Figure 6. View of future risks
Figure 7a. MEA-exclusive geopolitical concerns
Figure 7b. Wider geopolitical concerns
Figure 8. Spending behaviour
Figure 9. Risk intelligence use
Figure 10. Risk management technology goals
Figure 11. Risk management structures
Figure 12. Planned spending on emerging technologies
Figure 13. Barriers to AI adoption
Figure 14. Current and future uses of AI
Figure 15. Risk management vendor perception
Figure 16. Rate of risk management software implementation

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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Bill Pennington

Bill Pennington

VP Research

Bill is VP Research at Verdantix, where he leads analysis on the evolving and interconnected landscapes of EHS, quality, AI and enterprise risk management. His research helps ...

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