Around a third of companies say they are “exposed” to digital risks and they place these at the top of their concerns alongside inflation, reveals a study by PwC published Monday, November 20.
Generative AI, which makes it possible to produce texts, images and sounds upon simple request in everyday language, is booming and is seen by 60% of companies as an opportunity, notes PwC in a press release, reporting the results of the edition 2023 of its “global risks survey”.
Cyber risks
But according to this study, 37% of organizations believe they are “highly” or “extremely” exposed to cyber risks, just behind inflation risks (39%) and executives directly responsible for risk management even rank cyber risks before inflation.
“It is clear that organizations need to transform, and new and emerging technologies play an essential role” in this process, assures Sam Samaratunga, head of risk management at PwC. It is therefore “not surprising that cyber and digital risks are a priority in 2023”, but the survey also underlines that “if organizations do not take risks, they will not progress”, he continues.
3900 managers surveyed
The firm’s survey was conducted among more than 3,900 executives and risk management managers at companies located in 67 territories. It also reveals that for a majority of companies, preparing for technological investments, particularly with a view to the development of AI, also pushes them to review the risks to which they are exposed.
But not all businesses are equal, according to PwC, which explains that there is “a clear ambition among most organizations to adopt a more technology-led approach to risk”, but many are only in its infancy.
Among the companies surveyed, only 5% are “risk pioneers,” according to PwC, which means, among other things, that they are much more likely to see generative AI as a real opportunity or to take risks.