Artificial intelligence has moved from operational concern to top strategic priority for risk managers worldwide, according to the Global Risk Manager Survey 2026, produced by the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) and PwC. Released at the FERMA Forum in Rotterdam, the survey drew responses from 1,329 risk practitioners across 79 countries, a 28% increase in respondents from the 2024 edition.
In the near term, geopolitical uncertainty ranks as the leading risk, with cyberattacks and uncertain economic growth close behind. AI use and regulation have entered the near-term top five as well, reflecting what the report describes as mounting governance, compliance and competitive pressure around its adoption. But the medium-term picture marks the sharpest shift: AI becomes the number one concern over a two-to-five-year horizon, displacing regulation and geopolitical uncertainty from the top positions they held in 2024.
What makes that finding more than a ranking shift is what sits alongside it. AI use is also the risk that practitioners say is least adequately managed, cited by 46% of respondents, up from 43% in 2024. The gap between how prominently AI features on the risk agenda and how prepared organizations are to govern it is, the report argues, one of the defining challenges of the moment.
Geopolitical uncertainty ranks second in the inadequately managed list, at 36%, up sharply from 27% in 202. That figure takes on additional weight given that only 14% of respondents have dedicated governance aligned with corporate strategy to act on it. Most organisations are still managing it primarily through monitoring.
The survey's most striking finding in the insurance section is a sharp reversal in sentiment around uninsurability. In 2024, 53% of respondents believed risks associated with their business activities or locations would become uninsurable in the near future, a figure that had already risen from 41% in 2022. In 2026, it stands at 37%.
The report does not attribute this shift to a single cause, and the underlying pressures have not resolved. Rising premiums, risk exclusions and wording changes remain the three most cited insurance market trends.
What has changed is how respondents describe the risks most likely to become uninsurable. Climate and physical risks are now cited by 48%, down sharply from 73% in 2024, and cyber by 40%, down from 55%. The easing of sentiment appears to reflect a recalibration of expectations and, in part, active adaptation. Forty-three percent changed their insurance buying patterns, 31% strengthened loss prevention activities and 34% negotiated longer-term agreements. The gap between improved sentiment and persistent market friction is where the practical tension remains for brokers and risk managers navigating renewal conversations.
The survey also captures a broader shift in what the risk management function is being asked to do. Ninety-two percent of respondents are involved in corporate strategy, fully, mostly or partially, with strategic risk response the leading focus at 55%, closely followed by operational resilience at 53% - a category introduced in this year's survey that reflects the growing emphasis on organisations' ability to anticipate, withstand and recover from disruption.
"The survey highlights a more interconnected and complex risk landscape," said Tadas Cilcius, FERMA board member and chair of the survey, "with risks increasingly converging across geopolitics, technology, regulation, businesses and global supply chains."
The 2026 survey was produced in partnership with ALARYS, Club FrancoRisk, the International Federation of Risk and Insurance Management Associations (IFRIMA), the Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA), the Pan-Asia Risk and Insurance Management Association (PARIMA), the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) and the Risk Management Institution of Australasia (RMIA).
