Four in Five CFOs Burned by Risk Blind Spots Last Year - But Concern About Financial Risk Still Falling

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kyriba, the global leader in liquidity performance, today released its CFO Risk Radar 2026 report, revealing a significant gap between how prepared CFOs feel and what the evidence actually shows.

"Concern is falling but exposure isn't," said Todd Laddusaw, Chief Finance Officer at Kyriba. "That's the core finding of this year's Risk Radar, and it should change how CFOs think about readiness."

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The research found that four in five CFOs experienced a financial impact from risks in the past year, despite concern about those risks falling by an average of 13 percentage points. Kyriba has dubbed this The Complacency Paradox: risks have become business as usual, and CFOs may be mistaking that normalisation for safety.

"Concern is falling but exposure isn't," said Todd Laddusaw, Chief Finance Officer at Kyriba. "That's the core finding of this year's Risk Radar, and it should change how CFOs think about readiness."

Risk concern is falling, but the risks are not

Concern about measured risk categories has declined by an average of 13pp across 12 risk categories YoY. At the same time, CFO optimism is also softening:

• Economic outlook: 70.8% positive, down 4.8pp year over year (from 75.6%)
• Business outlook: 73.8% positive, down 5.4pp year over year (from 79.2%)

"When concern and optimism fall together, that is not a sign that the world has become safer. It is a sign that CFOs have recalibrated their expectations downward - without necessarily upgrading the tools needed to manage it," said Monica Boydston, Chief Product Officer at Kyriba.

The 2025 risks that drove concern are all still present in 2026. What has changed is not the exposure - it is the threshold for alarm:

• Inflation and cost of living remains the #1 global concern at 76.4%, declining only 5pp - the most persistent and most watched risk on the agenda
• AI disruption enters the ranking for the first time, at 52% concern, yet more CFOs expect financial disruption from it (55.2%) than actively flag it as a concern — awareness may already be lagging exposure
• Political instability is the #1 risk in both Spain (80.0%) and France (72.0%), reflecting a permanent fixture rather than a temporary shock
• Tariffs remain acute where trade exposure is highest, most notably at 83.2% in Mexico

The cost of being unprepared

79% of CFOs experienced some degree of financial impact from inadequate risk visibility in the past year. Only one in five escaped unscathed. Of those affected:

• 14.8% experienced significant financial impact
• 43.3% experienced moderate impact
• 21.2% experienced minor impact

The readiness gap: seen vs prepared

The research shows 47% of CFOs feel highly prepared to manage financial risk, yet 79% experienced financial impact last year. That gap - between perceived and actual protection - is the finding that matters most. Visibility is the one variable CFOs can actually control. Yet only 39.3% expect a high level of impact from risks they are already aware of. Even informed CFOs are routinely underestimating their full exposure.

Methodology: Kyriba's CFO Risk Radar 2026

The CFO Risk Radar 2026 is a global research study surveying 1,354 CFOs and senior finance leaders on risk perception, preparedness, financial impact, and risk management infrastructure. Full methodology and country coverage are available at the report landing page.

Explore the full findings, including country-level breakdowns here.

About Kyriba

Kyriba is the global leader in liquidity performance, trusted to transform how CFOs, Treasurers and IT leaders connect, protect, forecast and optimize their liquidity amid economic complexity.

As a secure, transparent and scalable SaaS solution trusted by 4,000 customers across 170 countries, Kyriba delivers governed intelligence and financial automation through innovative technologies, including its trusted agentic AI (TAI), bringing precision, efficiency, and confidence to financial operations.

With an expansive ecosystem of banking, technology and consulting partners, Kyriba’s platform powers 3.6 billion bank transactions and $51 trillion in payments across 10,000 banks annually – helping companies gain enterprise-wide visibility, ensure financial stability, and outperform their business strategy.