Risk To Resilience: What Separates Enterprise Leaders In The Age Of AI

Over the past decade companies were built for speed. Speed to market, execution and scale were fueled by investments in cloud infrastructure and digital transformation. Growth strategy, innovation and M&A drove enterprise value. Risk was largely managed within established governance structures led by CEOs, CFOs and boards.

Those structures still exist, but the environment around them has changed. Speed matters more than ever, but risk is moving faster than most organizations are structured to handle. The cost of misalignment in the C-suite is rising. Organizations must rethink how cross‑enterprise decisions are made and who is involved.

The Risk Landscape Has Changed

Systemic risk is not new. What is different today is how fast a single event can impact valuation, operations and brand reputation.

That shows up directly in what leaders say is standing between them and growth. In the 2026 Forbes CxO Growth Survey of global enterprises with more than $1 billion in revenue, cybersecurity rose to the top as the biggest challenge to growth at 58%, an 11‑point jump from 2025 — a reflection of how AI-driven cyber-attacks have increased. Regulatory and tax pressures increased to 43%, driven largely by the accelerating pace of AI governance legislation across the EU, U.S. and Asia-Pacific, and the compliance complexity that comes with operating across multiple regulatory regions simultaneously. Inflation, the dominant concern of the past two years, is now third at 42%. High energy costs reached 36%. Today these costs are a strategic constraint that is forcing conversations between CFOs, CIOs and sustainability leaders that would not have happened three years ago.

Technology risk, regulatory complexity and energy costs are rising together and intersecting in real time.

AI and Sustainability Are Strategic Imperatives

Technology is at the center of this shift. It is both the biggest driver of growth and the top challenge leaders face. Artificial intelligence is reshaping how enterprises operate, how brands engage with customers and how capital gets allocated. Cybersecurity now carries immediate financial, operational and reputational consequences.

Sustainability has a similar impact. It has moved beyond reporting and corporate responsibility and now shapes supply chain strategy, regulatory exposure and long‑term competitiveness.

These forces converge across four connected areas that are increasingly tied to how organizations build resilience:

• Financial and operational: capital allocation, efficiency and supply chain resilience
• Technology, data and cyber: AI adoption, cybersecurity and data governance
• Workforce and leadership: talent, skills and organizational readiness
• Brand and reputation: trust, transparency and stakeholder expectations

The Performance Gap is Already Visible

Our research across the annual CxO Growth Survey, Forbes AI and the State of Sustainability shows that organizations integrating AI and sustainability into core enterprise strategy are more likely to be among higher‑growth performers. Organizations treating AI and sustainability as isolated efforts struggle with fragmented data, slower decisions and uneven execution. Those embedding them into core strategy report stronger revenue growth and greater overall resilience.

This creates significant pressure on the C‑suite. Where finance managed exposure, operations managed supply chains, IT managed technology, those boundaries no longer hold. A cyber incident can hit the bottom line immediately. AI now defines workforce strategy and customer experience. Sustainability concerns now shape capital allocation and investor expectations. Our research makes it clear: organizations that operate as one team outperform those that don’t.

Leadership Is the Differentiator

Forbes Research shows how leadership roles are evolving when AI and sustainability become central. CEOs are defining growth strategy, building the culture of collaboration, and boards are holding them accountable for both. CIOs, who have led AI adoption from the beginning, are leading technology strategy and business growth. COOs and Chief Sustainability Officers are essential to cross‑functional execution. CFOs are taking a deeper role in evaluating technology and sustainability investments.

Making AI and sustainability core to the enterprise is now so complex, and moving so fast, that they can’t simply be implemented on top of existing business models. They need to be core. That requires deep expertise and boldness.

 

This article was written by Janett Haas from Forbes and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.