More than 60% of Organizations Are Insufficiently Prepared to Address Urgent Geopolitical, Cybersecurity, and Regulatory Risks, According to a New Survey of 1,000 Executives

AlixPartners’ 2025 Global Risk Survey reveals major preparedness gaps despite heightened risk of financial crime and corporate litigation

NEW YORK (April 30, 2025) – AlixPartners today released the headline results from its 2025 Global Risk Survey, which offers critical insights into pressing risks today’s businesses face in an era of unprecedented volatility. 

The results are based on responses from 1,000 senior executives serving in legal, compliance, and risk functions across the globe. The survey identifies major gaps in preparedness as well as benchmarks for where regional and industry peers stand. 

With the threat of an economic downturn now looming, 61% or more organizations are not sufficiently prepared to address critical risks, ranking themselves between "somewhat prepared" and "not prepared at all." That trend extends from data privacy (61%) and AI threats (68%) to geopolitical impacts (71%), supply chain disruptions (70%) and more. 

“Today’s businesses face many risks—a potential recession, rapidly changing regulatory policies, mounting geopolitical tensions, and AI-driven disruption,” said Louis Dudney, Global Leader – Investigations, Disputes and Risk. “Amid this uncertainty, executives rightly anticipate an increase in financial crime and corporate litigation and are increasingly turning to new technologies to mitigate a wide variety of risks.” 

Additional key findings include:  

• Financial crime. Over 60% believe financial crime will increase in the next 12 months. Sixty-three percent are investing in technology to combat it—yet only 44% say their technology is very effective at detecting and analyzing risk factors.
• Regulatory. The majority of organizations are insufficiently prepared to adapt to international (71%), national (64%), and local (58%) regulatory changes. And with the sanctions landscape in flux, only about a third feel sufficiently prepared to respond to potential changes.
• Technology. More than 60% of organizations are not adequately prepared to address cybersecurity incidents, data privacy breaches, and to keep pace with technological advancements. When it comes to AI, almost all (93%) are implementing AI into their business operations—but only about half have an AI leader or AI policies and guidance in place.
• Litigation. Nearly 70% believe corporate litigation will increase in 2025. Among those who expect litigation to grow by more than 10%, about 6 in 10 plan to raise their outside counsel budget and/or increase engagement with those providers. 

Fielded in February 2025, the survey includes responses from professionals based in the U.S., the UK, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. They operate in a variety of industries, with the largest numbers coming from financial services, technology, and manufacturing. The key findings released today spotlight global trends as well as important insights specific to these regions and industry sectors.  

“As legal, risk, and compliance professionals seek to manage their organizations’ vulnerabilities, we believe the insights gathered in this report will help them identify and address key business priorities in the year to come,” Dudney said. 

To explore AlixPartners’ key findings, click here. Be sure to stay tuned for more insights from AlixPartners’ 2025 Global Risk Survey as the firm’s subject matter experts explore key themes, industries, and region-specific findings in greater depth. Throughout, the report analysis will be updated to incorporate the latest headlines and key policy changes impacting businesses around the world. 

About AlixPartners
AlixPartners is a results-driven global consulting firm that specializes in helping businesses successfully capitalize on opportunities and address critical challenges. Our clients include companies, corporate boards, law firms, investment banks, private equity firms, and others. Founded in 1981, AlixPartners is headquartered in New York and has offices in more than 20 cities around the world. For more information, visit www.alixpartners.com.

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