In a world where risk is accelerating, converging, and defying boundaries, Moody’s new thought leadership study on Unified Risk Management (URM) offers a new perspective on how senior leaders in global organizations are adapting to build resilience and capitalize on opportunities.
Drawing on interviews with 50 senior executives across risk, compliance, finance, and procurement, contributors articulate the striking reality of their operating environment: risks like cyberattacks, third-party compliance failures, and other operational disruptions aren’t isolated events, and they aren’t even necessarily within their control. As one chief revenue officer puts it "You don’t own the risk, but you carry the consequence."
Risks cascade across supply chains, impact business reputations, and financial systems, creating what has been termed “Exponential Risk”—a phenomenon where threats can multiply, connect, and escalate—sometimes faster than governance can keep pace.
When asked about this concept of exponential, interconnected, global risk, leaders describe how a single supplier outage or cyber incident can trigger a domino effect, impacting compliance, customer experience, and even market access. They articulate how traditional, siloed models of risk ownership are no longer fit for purpose. As one board director put it, "Risks don’t respect our org charts…Unless we manage risk as one connected system, we’re always going to be one step behind."
The study identifies a small group of organizations at the vanguard of change who are helping to define a different benchmark for modern risk management. These leaders treat risk as a strategic enabler, not just a safeguard. They are shifting from compliance to resilience, from a defensive to a proactive approach, and from manual to data-driven risk management. For them, risk is a boardroom priority and a shared organizational language.
While some organizations are already embracing a unified risk management approach as a strategic priority, others appear to face an “execution gap”—they understand the need for change but may be struggling with fragmented data, siloed systems, manual processes, and unclear ownership of risk-related activities.
These strategies have the potential to support businesses in treating risk as more than a compliance obligation, delivering greater resilience and growth opportunity:
Data consolidation: Bringing together risk, compliance, and operational data into a single view to improve transparency and decision-making.
Cross-functional collaboration: Breaking down silos between risk, finance, procurement, and compliance teams to create shared intelligence and accountability.
Automation and analytics: Moving beyond manual processes to leverage technology for dynamic insights and predictive capabilities.
Governance alignment: Establishing clear roles and responsibilities to create risk ownership that’s understood across an organization.
The study also surfaces practical concerns with the idea of unified risk management such as overlap with existing tools, integration challenges, and the need for clear boundaries and sector-specific adaptation.
Ultimately, the study concludes that the center of gravity in risk management has shifted from financial stability to operational resilience. URM is not just a framework—it’s a mindset and culture shift, from control to connection, from compliance to readiness.
The report is now available to download. Please get your copy today, and if you have any questions, reach out to the team at Moody’s—we would be happy to hear from you.
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