Boards of directors and senior executive teams face a complex web of uncertainties. These may generate opportunities for strategic advantage or risks leading to unexpected disruption and performance shortfalls. An ability to anticipate risks that may be on the horizon before they become imminent can help leaders navigate unfolding developments — particularly those that are uncontrollable — that may impact their organization’s value and growth objectives. This report — our 13th annual edition — contains insights from 1,215 board members and C-suite executives around the world regarding their perspectives on the top risks they see on the horizon for both the near-term (two to three years ahead) and the long-term (a decade later, 2035).

The report contains detailed analyses of how boards of directors and C-suite executives rate the impact of 32 specific risks across three dimensions: macroeconomic, strategic and operational. Executives shared their perspectives through an online survey conducted between mid-November 2024 (following the U.S. presidential election) and mid-December 2024. Board members and senior executives use the key findings in our annual Executive Perspectives on Top Risks Survey reports to benchmark their organization’s risks against those on the minds of other leaders. It is our hope that this report will provide helpful perspectives that can generate fruitful dialogue and discussion among boards and C-suites as well as validate risk perceptions as they ponder emerging issues.

Major findings include:

• Business leaders believe their organizations are battle-tested and better prepared for managing change. Board members and executives generally feel more positive about their organization’s resilience, agility and preparedness to deal with crises and changes in the market. Their view reflects a marked improvement from our survey results in prior years.  
• The economy remains the top near-term risk globally, reflecting collective fatigue around economic uncertainty that has been weighing on leaders since COVID. Economic conditions (including inflationary pressures) negatively impacting growth opportunities and margins are regarded as the top near-term risk.  
• Cyber threats require constant adaptation to an evolving threat landscape. Cyber threats represent the second-ranked near-term risk for board members and C-suite leaders globally.  
• The regulatory environment — changes, heightened scrutiny and aggressive enforcement — remains a prominent concern. The risk of regulatory changes, heightened regulatory scrutiny and aggressive regulatory enforcement affecting the design of company processes and the production and delivery of products and services is a global concern.