How the C-suite views risks and opportunities in 2026: are internal auditors poised to help?

For more than a decade, Protiviti has collaborated with North Carolina State’s Poole College of Management to produce insightful reports on top business risks as viewed by executives and board members from around the world. The 14th annual report, released earlier this month, which augments the traditional risk rankings and applies a deeper look at opportunity and resilience. This year, it explores how board members and executives are "identifying and responding proactively to emerging trends, market shifts, and evolving customer expectations." I believe this subtle shift in focus paid off handsomely. Not only does the new report reflect how leaders are sizing up risks in 2026, but it shares valuable insights into the actions they plan to take to turn risks into opportunities.

The 2026 outlook: Bullish leaders and strategic shifts

The short answer is that business leaders are bullish, with nearly 7 in 10 (69%) agreeing that current conditions provide significant opportunities for revenue growth in the next two to three years, according to the report. This optimism is driving action: more than 6 in 10 (62%) organizations plan to expand strategic alliances and partnerships within the next 24 months.

AI as a catalyst for growth

At the heart of that optimism is the potential artificial intelligence (AI) holds as a transformative enabler for growth. According to respondents, AI is a long-term strategic priority, with 31% of leaders in the C-suite and boardroom focused on integrating it into current technologies and business processes. However, leaders are not blind to the complexities involved; they recognize that innovation and transformation can be strong accelerators of growth – but only if the underlying risks are managed effectively.

Reconciling opportunity with global risk

While the outlook is positive, the risk landscape remains dense. More than 1,500 respondents ranked cybersecurity as the top global risk and investment priority, followed closely by third-party risks, which are intrinsically linked to cyber concerns.

The shifting risk hierarchy

Meanwhile, AI ranked sixth among near-term global risks, while concerns about IT infrastructure performance shot up to the fourth-rated risk versus 13th last year. This shift suggests that legacy infrastructure could be viewed as a hurdle to AI adoption. In reconciling business leaders’ bullish outlook with their ranking of key risks, we can begin to paint a picture of how they see opportunities in risk. Protiviti and NC State University, 2026 Executive Perspectives on Top Risks and Opportunities, states:

The takeaway is clear: Leaders are keenly aware that leveraging AI effectively requires robust IT infrastructure and the human talent to sustain it. They are signaling a readiness to "beef up" these areas to ensure a stable foundation for growth.

The internal audit alignment: A reality check

To understand where internal audit fits into this AI-driven future, it is helpful to compare Protiviti’s findings with the Institute of Internal Auditors’ (IIA) annual Risk in Focus report.

That report, published in September, sought the views on risks and audit priorities from more than 4,000 internal audit leaders globally. Like their counterparts in the C-suite and boardroom, they ranked cybersecurity as the top risk by a wide margin, with nearly 3 in 4 (73%) listing it among the top five risks faced by their organizations in the coming year.

They also recognized digital disruption, driven primarily by AI, as a rapidly growing risk area, with a 9-percentage-point increase year-over-year, the largest increase of any of the 16 risk areas in the survey.

The gap between risk and audit priority

While there is agreement on what the risks are, there is a lingering question regarding the work being performed. The Risk in Focus survey found that while cybersecurity is a top priority for internal audit, digital disruption – the very thing driving executive optimism – has not yet broken into the top five audit priorities.

Feedback from internal audit leaders at various roundtable discussions around the world helps provide context for this. For many IA departments, the biggest hurdle to auditing digital disruption is access to the specialized skills required to assess rapidly changing technology. This mirrors the Protiviti report’s regarding workforce upskilling. As AI reshapes job roles, there is an urgent need for reskilling across the entire enterprise.

A call for investment in assurance

Business leaders in the C-suite and boardroom recognize that leveraging AI safely and effectively requires strategic investments in key areas, and they signaled they are ready to make that investment in IT infrastructure and upskilling IT talent, according to the Protiviti report. The question is, how can internal audit demonstrate that similar investments in independent risk assurance are vital in 2026?

Don’t just manage 2026 risks, get ahead of them.

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About the authors

Richard Chambers, CIA, CRMA, CFE, CGAP, is the CEO of Richard F. Chambers & Associates, a global advisory firm for internal audit professionals, and also serves as Senior Advisor, Risk and Audit at AuditBoard. Previously, he served for over a decade as the president and CEO of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). Connect with Richard on LinkedIn.