Leaders Should Plan for Colliding Risks, Not Isolated Crises. Here’s Why

This article argues that businesses must move beyond managing individual threats and prepare for the cascading, compounding, and colliding effects of interconnected global risks. It highlights geopolitics, climate change, and artificial intelligence as systemic risk multipliers that can interact through concentrated supply chains, critical infrastructure, energy systems, and digital networks, while traditional shock absorbers such as public finances and insurance are becoming less able to absorb disruptions. The article warns that these interactions can turn otherwise manageable shocks into systemic crises, shifting more of their financial and operational costs onto companies. It recommends that corporate boards strengthen resilience by identifying critical points where risks converge, stress-testing plausible compound shocks, maintaining alternative suppliers and capacity, and ensuring leaders retain sufficient financial and operational flexibility to respond when disruptions cascade across systems.