CCI staff share recent surveys, reports and analysis on risk, compliance, governance, infosec and leadership issues. Share details of your survey with us: editor@corporatecomplianceinsights.com.
One in three compliance leaders expect to be giving strategic advice
More than a third of compliance professionals see themselves headed toward having a role in company strategy, according to a survey by MCO (MyComplianceOffice).
The survey of 370 director-level or C-suite compliance leaders found that 37% said they expect the CCO role to expand more into strategic advice. About 42% of respondents reported that the CCO role is currently centered on regulator engagement and policy interpretation, and beyond moving into strategic advice, 36% see their role evolving into data-driven compliance and 32% forecast greater use of technology in the process.
Technology is driving compliance budgets, according to the survey. A vast majority of those surveyed (93%) expect compliance budgets to increase with 89% anticipating greater investment in compliance technology. Of the items getting invested in, KYC and AML (44%), AI tools (39%), and data management (35%) lead investment priorities.
The survey also found organizations use an average of 13.8 compliance systems and a mix of vendor technology, in-house systems and manual processes.
Use of AI jumps nearly 30% among directors
The use of AI by directors increased year over year to more than 90%, a survey by OnBoard found.
In a survey of 531 directors, administrators and enterprise leaders, OnBoard concluded that 92% of directors are using AI for board of director meetings. That’s up from 69% in 2025.
The survey found that the most common uses include summarizing board books, reports or documents (54%) and writing or cleaning up meeting minutes (53%). Nearly half (49%) of respondents use the technology to draft or format meeting agendas, while 40% rely on it to research topics or analyze data. Other applications include creating presentations or executive reports (35%) and anticipating board questions and preparing responses (33%).
While directors are using AI, almost two in five organizations (38%) don’t have a formal AI use policy for directors, according to the survey. Another 25% are developing guidelines while 27% have basic or shared formal rules. Just 6% enforce AI policy on directors.
But with AI use has come a precipitous drop in security confidence, the survey concluded. Confidence in board security dropped by 15 percentage points from 61% in 2025 to 46% in 2026, lower than even 2024’s mark of 54%. Of the negative impacts of AI, 38% named data privacy, confidentiality & data-usage concerns.
The survey also found that 87% said their board has at least one ineffective member.
More than half of mission-driven organizations are worried about money matters
More than 50% of nonprofit and public organizations cite financial outlooks as their top organizational risk, according to a survey by Diligent.
The survey of board members, secretaries, executive directors and others at 230 nonprofits and public sector organizations found that 53% identified an economic or funding downturn as their top organizational risk. More than a third (34%) named legislative and regulatory change as a foremost risk. Large-scale cybersecurity breach (21%), breakdown in culture, ethics or staff voice (18%) and disruption from AI or new technologies as well as misinformation and disinformation affecting stakeholder perception (17%) were also identified as top risks. Just above one in ten (11%) named confidential information being leaked from an unsanctioned AI event as a concerning risk.
Board risk oversight could be improved more by frequent and structured risk discussions at the full-board level 38% of respondents said. Also identified as ways to improve board risk oversight were: clearer linkage between risk and strategy (28%); clearer definition of roles (24%); deeper integration of risk into committee agendas (20%); and improved management reporting (20%).
Boards also want changes in their meetings, according to the survey. Almost half (49%) called for more time for strategic planning, 37% wanted better tools and processes for agendas and board materials, and 31% wanted fewer presentation-heavy meetings.
Cyber threats leads the top five concerns for 2027
Cyber threats are the most concerning risk for organizations as they head towards 2027, a survey by Protiviti and NC State University’s Enterprise Risk Management Initiative found.
The survey of 1,330 global board members and C-suite executives asked them to rate from one (no impact at all) to five (extensive impact) risks they foresee their organizations facing next year. While threats against cybersecurity were at the forefront of respondents’ minds with an average score of 3.58, another digital matter came in just behind. Emergences of new risks from implementing AI was of the second-greatest concern with a score of 3.45. Economic conditions and regulatory concerns ranked third (3.41 score) and fourth (3.37) in the poll, while the rapid speed of disruptive innovations enabled by emerging technologies or other market forces ranked fifth with a 3.36 score.
Those sentiments are reflected in the long-term challenges, respondents reported. More than two in five (41%) said security and privacy was a long-term challenge, with 40% saying AI deployment and 38% reporting markets and economies as challenges they’ll face long-term.
A third of banking professionals are leery about AI in lending
Risk stemming from agentic AI use in lending and underwriting workflows is among the most concerning for one in three financial services professionals, a survey by Wolters Kluwer found.
Of the 230 bank professionals surveyed, 33% cited agentic AI’s use in lending and underwriting as a top risk. About the same proportion (30%) named collections and recovery as an area where agentic AI will cause the most risk.
Shutting down AI or reporting an incident are areas of concern as well, the survey found. Nearly 38% said they are least prepared for regulatory reporting of an AI failure, while 34% reported that model kill-switch protocols aren’t in place.
The survey also found that 34% of respondents said automation bias was the greatest risk to their AI safety framework and 27% said misalignment of incentives was the top risk for AI safety.
