More than half (57%) of U.S. finance leaders say they would rather turn an opportunity down than build the case for it, even when the upside is clear, according to Coface’s 2026 Risk Survey: Risk Management from Risk Control to Growth Engine.
In fact, eight in 10 U.S. finance and risk leaders are now betting on artificial intelligence to give them the confidence to say “yes.”
“When finance and risk leaders say they would rather walk away from an opportunity than risk getting it wrong, they are responding to a system that was never built to make uncertainty feel manageable,” says Christina Montes de Oca, North America CEO at Coface. “The problem is that AI alone will not fix that. What companies actually need is better intelligence feeding AI tools, and the organizational confidence to act on it.”
Key takeaways:
· U.S. risk and finance teams are more structurally mature than their global peers, yet a cautious culture keeps that maturity from translating into growth.
- 57% of U.S. executives say turning something down feels safer than building a case for it, above the global average of 50%.
- When contemplating entering a new market, only 17% of U.S. leaders lead by looking for a path forward, while 31% lead by considering what could go wrong.
- Just 33% of U.S. leaders say they are comfortable entering a new market without a complete view of the risks.
- 33% of U.S. executives name caution as the single biggest obstacle, and 66% point to internal risk aversion.
- 65% of U.S. executives say commercial ambition and risk discipline are fundamentally at odds, above the global average of 62%.
- Risk is involved at the idea stage at 29% of U.S. firms, above the global average of 24%, and 78% say leaders balance growth and risk. Yet only 28% see risk teams as growth partners, while 42% still call them “trusted guardians who protect the business from downside.”
- 51% of U.S. executives expect risk and finance to be strategic growth partners within 3-5 years.
- 71% say translating risk into commercial trade-offs is critical, and 66% want risk teams to flag opportunities, not just problems.
- 76% of U.S. firms have clear decision rights, and 71% link their risk appetite directly to their growth strategy.
- 80% of U.S. executives say AI-driven insights and early warning signals are a top priority, and 68% want predictive data built into daily workflows rather than a separate system.
- 31% say data quality varies significantly by market, making it hard to compare across the business and act with confidence.
- 67% want partners that help them say yes to more opportunities safely, and 59% want protection that enables bolder decisions.
- Only 12.6% of companies globally have made the shift, and those that have are significantly more likely to see risk as a competitive advantage.
- Of this small group, 70% involve risk teams from the earliest stages of decision-making, compared with an average of 58%.
