Navigating a Perfect Storm of Disruption
A recent report, AI-Powered Supplier Risk Management Survey 2025, from Sphera, interviewed 200 chief procurement officers (CPOs) and chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) across the US and UK to examine how often disruptions occur, what business impacts they create, and how leaders are preparing to adapt their supply chains in an era of accelerating volatility.
Key findings:
Boards are challenging risk decisions. Almost half of organizations (48.5%) say supply chain risk decisions are questioned by the board weekly or monthly, and a further 46.5% face quarterly challenges, showing that supply risk is firmly a boardroom issue.
Confidence paradox. While 98% of leaders say they are confident their supplier data is complete and current, 73% experienced disruption in the past year, revealing a clear gap between confidence and reality.
Disruption is draining revenue. Nearly three-quarters of organizations suffered from supplier disruptions in the past 12 months, with 23% reporting significant losses and 50% reporting modest losses.
Supply base relocation is imminent. 94,5% of leaders expect to shift a critical portion of their supply base within 6-18 months due to tariffs, regulations and geopolitical pressures.
Onboarding bottlenecks slow execution. Top barriers when onboarding or shifting suppliers are speed of risk checks 933%), compliance documentation (26%), data accuracy in emerging markets (21.5%) and visibility into Tier2-3 suppliers (16%).
Risk reviews remain too slow. 65%of organizations need more than a day and up to a week to complete supplier risk reviews, and e30.5% need more than a week. Only 4.5% can complete reviews in under a day.
Leaders demand near-real-time insights. 27% want risk assessments in less than a day, while 60.5% want them within a week, confirming that tolerance for multi-week cycles is rapidly disappearing.
Gen AI valued for speed and quality. The top benefits cited for AI-generated supplier risk summaries are faster operational decisions (31%), foster strategic decisions (29%) and speed/accuracy in under 60 seconds (24%).
Business exposure from blind spots. Executives highlight revenue loss (30.5%), inflationary costs (25.5%), investor confidence (16%), compliance penalties (14%), and growth (11.5%) as the biggest consequences of supplier blind spots.
ROI expectations are non-negotiable. Boards expect AI-driven supplier risk solutions to deliver cost savings/avoidance (28%), revenue protection (24%), and top-line growth (21%), making financial defensibility the ultimate success metric.