The primary obstacle to business growth is no longer just market conditions, but companies’ ability to make timely, strategic decisions. According to the latest Coface survey of 1,250 business leaders across 13 countries, 68% identify slow decision-making as a major barrier to growth. In today’s volatile and uncertain economic environment, businesses must go beyond risk avoidance and focus on accelerating decision-making processes. A fundamental transformation is underway, positioning risk as a key driver of smarter decisions and sustainable growth.
Key takeaways
- 68% of companies view slow decision-making as a major hindrance to growth
- 62% of decision-makers believe commercial ambition and risk management remain misaligned
- 44% expect risk and finance teams to become strategic growth partners within 3 to 5 years
- 77% expect external partners to deliver predictive insights for more proactive decision-making
Decision Paralysis: A Growing Business Risk in 2026
Once considered an external factor, risk is now largely internal. In many organizations, decision-making is delayed by ongoing tensions between sales teams and risk management functions, as well as challenges in leveraging available data effectively. Nearly 59% of organizations report that risk team feedback is often perceived as overly cautious or disconnected from market realities, creating mistrust and slowing decision-making.
This creates a vicious cycle: without unified and reliable data, as 52% of companies report fragmented data across markets, decisions rely more heavily on intuition. This reinforces risk aversion and further delays strategic action.
From “No” to “Yes”: Driving a Strategic Decision-Making Shift
Decision paralysis is partly driven by a defensive approach to risk. Half of executives (50%) believe that saying “no” is safer than building a structured “yes”, even when viable opportunities exist.
However, expectations are rapidly evolving. While only 24% of decision-makers currently view risk teams as growth enablers, 44% anticipate this shift within the next three to five years. High-performing organizations are those that move beyond control-focused thinking to enable “secure yes” decisions by integrating risk analysis early in the decision-making process.
Leading Companies Are Gaining a Competitive Edge
Just 12.6% of organizations, identified as Open Advantage Leaders, currently embrace a fully growth-oriented approach. These companies stand out through actionable best practices, allowing them to turn uncertainty into faster, data-driven decisions and capitalize on opportunities others miss.
- 70% involve risk teams early in decision-making, compared to an average of 58%
- 29% consider risk a competitive advantage (vs. 19%)
- 38% promote a culture of debate and constructive challenge (vs. 23%)
Data and AI: Key Drivers of Faster, Smarter Decisions
Data is becoming a critical performance driver in modern organizations. However, only 20% of companies report having consistent and harmonized data across markets, limiting their ability to benchmark, forecast, and anticipate risks effectively.
As a result, companies are accelerating their expectations around data and technology: the goal is to reduce uncertainty while increasing decision-making speed without compromising control.
- 59% of executives want greater use of predictive analytics for scenario planning
- 54% aim to accelerate adoption of AI-driven risk analysis solutions
From Risk Protection to Business Prediction: The Role of Strategic Partners
Today’s companies expect far more from their partners than traditional risk coverage:
- 77% want access to predictive analytics to anticipate market trends
- 71% expect partners to build confidence in capturing new business opportunities
Around 65% of leaders believe partners must enable smarter, bolder decisions by combining risk protection, data intelligence, and market foresight. In this evolving landscape, risk management professionals are expected to become true strategic partners, helping businesses transform uncertainty into informed, actionable decisions that drive growth.
Xavier Durand, CEO of Coface, states:
The real challenge for companies is no longer to avoid risk, but to know how to turn uncertainty into informed decisions. And that requires data.
The ability to capture, analyze and project information is becoming central to saying ‘yes’ earlier, faster and more securely.
The most successful companies are not those that take fewer risks, but those that have the best intelligence to make decisions.
Download the full study here.
