What are the top risks for healthcare organizations in 2027?

Cyber threats remain No. 1, followed by regulatory change, AI implementation, privacy compliance and economic conditions. The biggest movers: privacy jumped from No. 12 to No. 4, AI from No. 7 to No. 3 and regulatory change from No. 4 to No. 2. Each concern intensified from last year, and leaders are managing them at once with the same teams and constrained resources. Third-party vendors are now viewed as risks equal to those inside their own walls.

What are the most significant AI challenges healthcare executives expect to face, and how are they preparing for them?

AI is the fastest-rising near-term risk in healthcare, moving from No. 7 to No. 3. Providers face questions about patient disclosure and consent, clinical accuracy, documentation integrity and liability, while payers face scrutiny when AI influences coverage, prior authorization and claims decisions. Leaders are preparing by prioritizing integration of AI into existing workflows (44%), stronger governance and accountability (42%) and workforce readiness (41%), including AI inventories, risk tiering, human oversight and performance monitoring.

Which risks are most urgent for healthcare organizations in the next few years?

The most urgent near-term risks for healthcare organizations are cyber threats, heightened regulatory change and fragmentation, new risks from implementing AI, privacy and identity protection compliance, and economic conditions, including inflationary pressures. Regulatory change rose from No. 4 to No. 2, and privacy jumped from No. 12 to No. 4. Cyber threats remain No. 1 because attacks can disrupt clinical care and claims processing, and leaders increasingly view third-party vendors as risks equal to those within their own environments.

Where are healthcare organizations planning to focus their investments to protect margins and improve performance?

Healthcare organizations rank human capital management and workforce skilling as their top investment priority at 39%, up from 32%, followed by infrastructure modernization at 37%, up from 31%. Business process improvements fell to 35% from 41%, but the need for operational discipline has not diminished. Leaders are recasting process improvement as continuous, technology- and analytics-enabled margin management that builds on the platforms they are already funding.

What long‑term challenges are expected to shape healthcare strategy over the next decade?

Talent challenges are the top long-term concern for healthcare leaders at 48%, up from 33%, followed by security and privacy at 46% and AI deployments at 39%. Leaders view workforce scarcity as a structural challenge rather than a cyclical labor issue, driven by nursing and physician supply, aging workforces, rural access gaps and competition for data and technical talent. AI concerns fell from 49%, suggesting leaders see AI as a manageable challenge while workforce scarcity is not.

Top Risks 2027: Financial Services Insights

6 min read

2027 Executive Perspectives on Top Risks and Opportunities

Financial services leaders enter 2027 with a dual mandate: capture new sources of growth while transforming the business, protecting enterprise value and adapting to disruption, all at the same time. Protiviti's 2027 findings show leaders confident in their ability to transform and protect, but far less confident in their ability to respond with agility as cyber threats, AI risks and economic uncertainty intensify. Firms are responding with targeted investment in cybersecurity, business process improvement and advanced data analytics, and treating AI as a workflow redesign challenge rather than a deployment race. Read the financial services brief to see how firms are turning agility into enterprise value.

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Where financial services leaders see the greatest growth opportunities over the next two to three years

Revenue growth, strategic partnerships and new markets are emerging as key opportunities, fueled by demographic shifts, wealth transfer, private markets, digital assets and evolving customer expectations. AI, data and modernization are also creating new paths to productivity, personalization and better customer experiences. The greatest potential lies where technology, data, resilient infrastructure and modernized risk and controls come together to drive growth, efficiency and enterprise value.

79 %

see significant opportunities to grow revenue.

65 %

see significant opportunities to expand strategic alliances and partnerships.

56 %

see significant opportunities to grow beyond their headquarters' domestic market.

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FAQs

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Where do financial services leaders see the greatest growth opportunities?

Revenue potential leads, with 79% of financial services leaders seeing significant opportunity to grow revenue, up from 72%. Ecosystem development (65%) and geographic expansion (56%) follow. Leaders see new markets and products driven by demographic shifts, wealth transfer, retirement needs, private markets and digital assets, alongside AI-enabled productivity and data-driven personalization that improve customer acquisition, retention and advisory services.

What are the top risks for financial services firms in 2027?

Cyber threats lead at 3.97 on a five-point impact scale, up from 3.56, followed by new risks from implementing AI (3.67), the rapid speed of disruptive innovation (3.62), economic conditions (3.58) and changes in the interest rate environment (3.46). All 10 of the highest-rated near-term risks increased year over year. The risks are connected, and the agenda is shifting from discrete risk management to operating model resilience.

Why are financial services leaders less confident in their ability to respond with agility?

60% of financial services leaders report high confidence in their ability to protect enterprise value and 58% in transforming the organization, but only 39% in responding with agility. Many firms are trying to transform, protect, respond and adapt at the same time, which strains capacity. Closing the gap means modernizing operating models, simplifying decision-making, improving data access and strengthening governance so institutions can move faster while maintaining control.

How can financial services firms get more value from AI?

Redesign high-value workflows around AI rather than layering it onto existing processes. Financial services leaders rank integrating AI with existing technologies, processes and the workforce first, followed by equipping the workforce and improving governance and accountability. Start with proven use cases such as fraud and financial crime, servicing, underwriting and adviser enablement, build on trusted data, embed controls by design and measure value before scaling.

Where are financial services firms investing in 2027?

Cybersecurity leads by a meaningful margin, with 58% ranking it a top investment priority, followed by business process improvements (44%), advanced data analytics (39%) and customer experience (37%). Advanced data analytics posted the largest increase, up 13 points from 2026. The strongest opportunities sit where data, cyber, infrastructure and process improvement come together, with governance increasingly enabling transformation rather than defining the investment agenda.