Cyber incidents are seen as a key risk in 2025 and remain the biggest worry for companies globally this year, financial services firm Allianz’s ‘Risk Barometer 2026’ report shows.

There has also been significant acceleration in the adoption of AI in the past year, which is reflected in its ranking as the biggest riser in the yearly survey at second place as a complex source of operational, legal and reputational risk for businesses.

This year, cyber incidents are the top global risk for the fifth year in a row, with its highest-ever score, at 42% of responses, and by a higher margin than ever before of more than 10% above the next risk.

Cyber risks rank as the main corporate concern in every region, namely Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Africa and the Middle East, the company notes.

The continued presence of cyber at the top of the Allianz Risk Barometer reflects a deepening reliance on digital technology at a time when the cyber-threat landscape, and geopolitical and regulatory environments, are fast evolving, it adds.

Recent high-profile cyber attacks underline the continuous threat to businesses of all sizes. Smaller and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly targeted and under pressure owing to a lack of cyber-security resources, Allianz notes.

“Large companies’ investments in cyber-security and resilience have been paying off by ensuring they can detect and respond to attacks early. However, cyber risk continues to evolve.

“Organisations are increasingly reliant on third-party providers for critical data and services, while AI is supercharging threats, which is increasing the attack surface and adding to existing vulnerabilities,” notes Allianz Commercial Risk Consulting Advisory Services global head Michael Bruch.

Further, AI has surged into the top tier of global business concerns, rising to second place with 32% of responses in 2026, up from tenth place in 2025.

It is a big mover in all regions, being ranked second in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Africa and the Middle East, and third in Europe, and is a growing risk for companies of all sizes too, moving into the top three for large, medium-sized and smaller firms.

As AI adoption accelerates and becomes more deeply embedded in core business operations, respondents expect AI-related risks to intensify, especially when it comes to liability concerns. The rapid spread of generative and agentic AI systems, paired with their growing real-world use, has raised awareness of just how exposed organisations have become, Allianz says.

“Companies increasingly see AI not only as a powerful strategic opportunity but also as a complex source of operational, legal and reputational risk. In many cases, adoption is moving faster than governance, regulation and workforce readiness can keep up,” says Allianz chief economist Ludovic Subran.

“As more firms attempt to scale this year, they will face greater exposure to system-reliability issues, data-quality constraints, integration hurdles and skilled talent shortages. Meanwhile, new liability exposures are emerging around automated decision-making, biased or discriminatory models, intellectual property misuse and uncertainty over who is responsible when AI-generated outputs cause harm,” he says.

Following the volatility and uncertainty of 2025, businesses continue to face interconnected and highly complex risks in this year’s fast-changing environment, says Allianz Commercial CEO Thomas Lillelund.

“The continuing rise of AI across society and industry means it is the big mover in the Allianz Risk Barometer. As well as bringing huge opportunities, its transformative potential and rapid evolution and adoption are also reshaping the risk landscape, making it a standout concern for firms of all sizes worldwide, alongside other more established threats,” he adds.

Further, for the first time ever, business interruption is not in the top two risks, dropping to third spot. However, this peril remains a significant concern given it can be a consequence of other risks in the global top ten, Allianz says.

Business interruption is strongly connected to geopolitical risks and 2025 marked a shift towards protectionist trade policies and tariff wars that brought uncertainty to the world economy.

Geopolitical risks are putting supply chains under increasing pressure, but, as risks rise, only 3% of Allianz Risk Barometer respondents view their supply chains as very resilient, it notes.

In the past year, trade restrictions have tripled to affect an estimated $2.7-trillion of merchandise, which is nearly 20% of global imports according to Allianz Trade, and thereby fuelling companies exploring trends such as friend-shoring and regionalisation.

These developments lead to a high-risk perception, and 29% of respondents rank business interruption as a top peril, placing it at third place, although it drops a position year-on-year.

Additionally, political risks and violence climbs two places to seventh place, which is its highest-ever ranking, driven by increasing concerns over geopolitical volatility and conflicts around the world, Allianz says. The closely linked risk of changes in legislation and regulation, which includes trade tariffs, ranks in fourth place globally, and is unchanged year-on-year albeit with an increase in respondents driven by concerns over growing protectionism.

Global supply chain paralysis owing to a geopolitical conflict ranks as the most plausible black swan scenario likely to materialise in the next five years, according to 51% of the respondents, the Risk Barometer shows.

Meanwhile, a quieter hurricane season in terms of losses during 2025 means that natural catastrophes drops to fifth place year-on-year.