UK risk managers identified five key themes that could affect their businesses, topped by “technology, AI and
cyber,” according to AIRMIC, the British risk management group, which conducted a survey of its members.
Nearly 90% of respondents pointed to tech, AI and cyber as their principal risk concern, with “geopolitics and geoeconomics” following at second place, iden
tified by 65% of respondents, said AIRMIC’s survey report which was released at the group’s annual conference in Liverpool, England this week. (See chart below).
Interestingly, the three principal themes of year’s AIRMIC conference – geopolitics, technology and climate – were the same as last year’s meeting.
“Some respondents felt that that their organization’s use of technology had been evolving more quickly than for the insurance and risk industry, with
the outcome that the available solutions are lagging behind business needs.”
The AIRMIC su
rvey report said that recent cyber-attacks on retailers in the UK (Marks & Spencer, the Co-Op Group and Har
rods) have shown how important it is to have “dynamic risk management which defends the organization fro
m the risk, rather than place an emphasis on the after-effects and response.”
Growing cyber threats from criminals and state actors come “against a backdrop of organizations struggling with inc
reasing costs due to disruptions to complex global supply chains, geopolitics, regulation and volatility,” said the rep
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ort titled “Another World Is Possible,” which was also the title of the 2025 conference.
While artificial intelligence (AI) provides an opportunity to reduce costs, the report warned, it also creates risks that need to be managed.
Survey respondents with businesses that depend largely on technology are concerned that “their organization’s use of technology has been evolving more rapidly than what the insurance and risk industry is currently equipped to deal with,” said the report, noting that this fact is leading them to seek new alternative risk transfer mechanisms.
Moving on to “geopolitics and geoeconomics,” AIRMIC said: “Geopolitical risk has the ability to force wholesale changes to global businesses,” leading them to pursue different strategies. “Geopolitics also brings a direct impact on the economy, which could lead to increasing costs for businesses and less disposable income for consumers.”