Airmic’s 2025 member survey reveals a profession at a crossroads - called on to rise above global turmoil, embrace AI, and deliver long-term strategic value.
Risk and insurance professionals are being called on to rise above the “three Ts” of Trump, tariffs and turmoil and lead their organisations through a new era of connected, compounding threats.
Speaking at the launch of Airmic’s 2025 member survey, Hoe-Yeong Loke, head of research, said that while geopolitics continues to dominate members’ concerns, risk professionals must demonstrate maturity by focusing on what matters most to the business.
“It takes a certain maturity for risk professionals to phase out the noise from the 24-hour news cycle that we’re bombarded with,” he said. “While geopolitics is in the news… it is really the way to keep in touch with all these interconnected risks such as supply chain, macroeconomic risk and all the rest of it.”
Geopolitics topped members’ open-ended responses to the survey, with one respondent characterising the current climate as a world of “too much tension and too little trust.” But when asked to rank thematic priorities, technology, AI and cyber overtook all other concerns, named by 86% of respondents as top of mind.
Airmic members reported that their organisations’ technological development is outpacing what the insurance and risk industry is equipped to manage. “Their own organisations are much further ahead in terms of where they are in technology use than the risk and insurance industry as a whole is ill equipped to deal with,” said Loke. “That’s what we have in mind as we guide our research and thought leadership.”
The findings reflect a growing shift in the profession. Julia Graham, Airmic’s CEO, stressed the need for risk professionals to remain strategically engaged amid intensifying volatility.
“Managing risk has at its heart the protection and creation of value… The current level of global uncertainty demands a strategically engaged, informed and agile risk professional who can flex as the context and priorities of the organisation change,” she wrote in the report.
Despite high levels of concern about emerging risks, including AI misuse, cyber threats, climate shocks, and regulatory burden, members also see opportunity in the chaos. Widespread use of AI, regulatory change, and innovation were named among the biggest upside risks.
“The widespread use of AI is really good news for productivity,” said Loke, “but also a double-edged sword if one thinks of online safety and ethical risks.”
The survey also reveals a profession rapidly gaining influence. Many Airmic members are now embedded in strategic roles across their organisations, with more than half holding responsibilities beyond traditional insurance or risk silos, including ESG, compliance, finance and resilience.
When asked what skills matter most in today’s environment, members prioritised critical thinking, communication, and soft skills, placing greater emphasis on collaboration than on technical expertise or even digital literacy.
“Collaboration is far more important and more critical to them than things such as deeper business knowledge or robust decision-making processes,” said Loke.
This strategic influence is increasingly reflected in compensation. Airmic found that the majority of professionals with over a decade of experience now earn upwards of £100,000 annually. Despite this, members say it’s the intellectual stimulation of the role - not the pay- that drew them to the profession.
Finally, there are signs of renewed confidence in alternative risk financing. The use of captives is on the rise, with members reporting more than £5.1 billion in annual premiums flowing through captive structures and £22.6 billion in assets under management. Many said this shift was driven by frustration with the insurance market’s failure to keep pace with evolving exposures.
Loke concluded with cautious optimism: “Even with all these changing dynamics and geopolitics and the risks that are being thrown at us… risk and insurance professionals have not been more defined than now than ever.”
BLOG: Airmic Conference 2025 Daily News Summary
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Currently reading
Airmic 2025: Geopolitics dominates, but strategic clarity is the real challenge
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
No comments yet