Bermuda’s reinsurance market, built on assessing and pricing global risk, will take note of Aon’s warning that businesses worldwide remain dangerously underprepared for the twin threats of cyberattacks and artificial intelligence.

In its 2025 Global Risk Management Survey, based on responses from nearly 3,000 executives across 63 countries, Aon found that cyberattack or data breach remains the number one risk globally, with AI entering the top ten future risks for the first time. Cyber incidents rose 22 per cent in 2025, driven by the rapid adoption of generative AI and digital platforms.

“The scale and complexity of cyber-risk today is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” said Brent Rieth, Aon’s global cyber leader. “Our clients are increasingly using AI both defensively and offensively, to enhance resilience and unlock growth. The key is embedding cyber into board-level strategy, investing in quantification and viewing resilience as a competitive differentiator.”

Despite growing awareness, only 14 per cent of respondents quantify their exposure to the top ten risks and just 19 per cent use analytics to evaluate the value of their insurance programmes — leaving many exposed to financial and reputational losses.

Aon said AI is both a disrupter and an opportunity, capable of automating threat detection, simulating emerging risks and transforming resilience to cyberattacks into “a driver of innovation and growth”.

“Technology is driving both innovation and disruption, expanding risk exposure to every part of an enterprise,” the report said, adding that organisations integrating awareness of such risks into their culture and continuity planning are “better equipped to create value and sustain resilience”.

Meanwhile, climate change has entered the world’s top ten future business threats for the first time. The survey found insured weather-related losses reached $100 billion in the first half of 2025 — the highest since 2011 — with floods, wildfires and extreme heat disrupting supply chains and straining balance sheets. Aon urged firms to move beyond compliance and treat climate resilience as a strategic investment.

The survey also identified geopolitical volatility, now ninth globally, as a growing driver of cyber, supply-chain and regulatory risks. Looking ahead to 2028, Aon expects cyber-risk to remain dominant, while AI and climate change reshape the global business landscape.

Geopolitical risk climbed 12 places since 2023 to enter the top ten for the first time in the survey’s 19-year history. Aon said the trend reflects growing instability across regions, with implications for supply chains, regulation and corporate performance.

“Volatility and uncertainty are now constants for organisations,” said Joe Peiser, Aon’s chief executive of commercial risk. “From evolving tariffs to shifting alliances, these forces directly impact balance sheets. Building resilience through analytics and scenario planning is essential.”

Looking ahead to 2028, the survey predicts cyber-risk will remain the number one threat, while AI and climate change will join the top ten.