The answers to these questions could have a major impact on a business’ success over time – and in today’s fast-moving world, it’s more important than ever to get them right.
3. Looking at challenges from every angle
Given the rapid pace of technological change, many innovations and industries are emerging faster than the regulations that will eventually govern them. This is why it’s now critical to look at new opportunities and challenges from every angle.
For example, when it comes to a new digital offering, we strive to bring together lawyers, financial risk professionals, cyber professionals, regulatory and tax professionals. By bringing these players together, we can think through all of the potential grey areas where legal, tax and regulatory frameworks haven’t yet caught up with technology, and build in the measures to manage those risks while the offering is still at the design stage.
We were recently able to do this while working with a manufacturing company that produced heavy machinery for a variety of industries. A century-old business, they wanted to adapt their operations for the digital age, so we brought together a group of professionals who could visualize and think through all of the different implications that would come with that shift. As a result, we were able to help them implement a governance model that considers the risk profile across their strategic priorities. These changes reduced their exposure as they confidently implement new digital technologies to create a competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market. They can now evolve their business in a way that can balance upside, downside and outside risks, while building trust with their stakeholders.
The future of predicting the future
All of this is just the beginning. We’re now working to incorporate AI into all of these processes. In the next five years, we are confident that EY tools will be able to not just analyze today’s risks, but also predict future risks that aren’t even on your radar.
That might mean we can use geological measurements to predict that a volcano in Hawaii has a high percent chance of erupting soon – which could affect any business that relies on a Hawaiian trade route.
Perhaps we’ll be able to look at your business model and the experiences of your competitors, and then predict what type of cyber attacks you are most likely to experience in the next six months. That way, you can properly and preventively tune your IT strategies and identify necessary new investments.
Or EY teams might be able to use aggregate polling data to better predict which countries will experience political unrest – so businesses can prepare their people, back up critical data and operations, and look for alternative markets if necessary.
The potential for this predictive technology is virtually unlimited. If we get it right, we can be more confident about the future than ever before – and help ensure that people trust business to lead them forward. That’s why EY iscommitted to investing in risk management tools for the long term, that can build in trust by design to our client’s businesses. It’s something we’re doing today – to help ensure that we’re fully prepared for tomorrow.
Summary
While businesses face an environment of increasing risk today, digital disruption, and a fresh approach to risk-management, presents a real opportunity for tomorrow.
