Emerging and interconnected risks

Navigating the risks and opportunities of emerging and interconnected risks is becoming crucial for many organizations’ efficiency and strategic capabilities. But getting this right means your business may need a reset to ensure it’s not only resilient to interconnected risks, but also able to go further, seizing the opportunity complex risk correlations can offer.

No organization is disconnected from the complex risk landscape. Your vulnerability could be an undiscovered supplier, an underappreciated risk connection, or confusion about what emerging risks mean for your organization. “What emerging risk definition does your organization use?” Eighty-six percent of respondents couldn’t provide an answer.

With regulators starting to ask organizations to go beyond providing a list of key risks and explaining how they reached those conclusions, being ready to answer those questions is essential.

Are you prepared for the risks and opportunities coming your way and ready to seize the advantage and build your resilience?

WTW's Emerging and Interconnected Risk Survey Reports

To understand the decision-making process and what elevates certain risks, we designed a biannual survey that guided respondents through four lenses: three time horizons and a view of risk connections. This included 48 risk sources across eight categories, providing a comprehensive view of the complex risk landscape that covers the topics that drive change across risk and strategy.

• Today: The top emerging risks for your organization
• Tomorrow: Where you expect the greatest sources of risk to occur over the next two years
• The future: Where you expect the greatest sources of risk to occur over the next 10 years
• Interconnectivity: The interconnectivity of those risks and the impact for your organization.

By exploring each risk captured in this framework, we start to build a picture of the emerging risks organizations have identified and offer constructive challenges on what they might have missed or may want to take a second look at. Designed by our WTW Research Network this approach pulled hidden risk dependencies to the surface, reordering the importance of risks.

Discover the key trends, more in our regional and industry reports and access the latest insights from our specialty experts.

Regional reports

• View the North America overview of our Emerging & Interconnected Risks Survey
• View the United Kingdom overview of our Emerging & Interconnected Risks Survey
• View the Asia overview of our Emerging & Interconnected Risks Survey

Industry specific

• Natural resources
• Aviation

Strategy and frameworks to build resilience

Emerging risks are not in the future. They are already affecting the bottom line and business value. Fewer than one in two organizations (47%) feel their business model and strategy are resilient to today’s emerging risk landscape. Looking at the strategic horizon in 10 years’ time, only 12% feel any sense of confidence, leaving close to 9 in 10 of your peers concerned their approach to the complex emerging risk landscape will need to radically change.

Here we bring together our latest thinking on emerging risk, offering frameworks, case studies and practical guidance to help you anticipate change, navigate complexity and build strategic resilience.

Technology

Technology requires enterprise-wide alignment across risk and strategy. Developments in AI are reshaping the risk and opportunity for large and complex organizations, while cyber risks continue to evolve and more digital touchpoints are hardwired into your assets. These trends are triggering changes in cybersecurity requirements, talent strategies and investment opportunities. Specialized expertise, robust cybersecurity and real-time visibility of your risks are critical to protecting sensitive information and maintaining stakeholder trust across time zones.

Geopolitical and political risk

Running a complex global business involves navigating the shifting geopolitical alignments political instability and regulatory fragmentation. These risks can trigger sudden changes in laws, tariffs or even asset expropriation — directly affecting operations, profitability and strategic planning. A clear understanding of geopolitical and political risk enables more informed decisions, enhance resilience and maintains a competitive edge in dynamic global markets.

Supply chain risk

Supply chain risks are significant because disruptions can halt production, delay deliveries and increase costs, ultimately affecting customer satisfaction and revenue. Effective supply chain risk management ensures business continuity.

Financial disruption

In just the past five years, large and complex organizations have had to think about — and try to finance — risks ranging from AI, climate change and cyber, to geopolitical developments and societal shifts in labor. These trends are disrupting supply chains, altering capital flows and challenging strategic planning, creating a complex web of interconnected financial risks that affect everything from operational continuity to shareholder confidence. Understanding the full risk picture, including insurance gaps and regulatory exposure, enables more informed decisions and supports sustainable growth in uncertain markets.

Climate change and environmental risk

Natural catastrophe insured losses have exceeded $100 billion annually for the last six years. Environmental volatility is growing, and regulatory expectations continue to evolve. These risks have always been present, but the impact of their reach into social stability, workplace wellbeing, supply chains and economic security is becoming increasingly apparent. For large and complex organizations with assets across the world, these risks require coordinated action to safeguard people and capital while balancing competing strategic priorities. For some, this will mean a new realism.

People

From determining how work gets done and how it’s valued to considering population dynamics and what that means for talent strategies, people risks are a critical factor for large and complex organizations. Securing the right skills, maintaining wellbeing and adapting to societal changes underpin the ability to respond to other risks. Strategic workforce planning, inclusive culture and investment in skills and wellbeing are essential to building a resilient, future-ready organization.