Despite escalating climate shocks, cyber incidents, and supply chain failures, most organizations still lack robust crisis preparedness plans. A new Samsara study reveals a widening gap between confidence in digital tools and the operational reality of on-the-ground readiness.
Unprepared for the Inevitable
A staggering 76% of executives say they are not confident in their organization’s ability to handle a major disruption, according to Samsara’s State of Connected Operations report. Only 24% feel adequately prepared, and in disaster-prone regions, active crisis plans are rare, just 13% of companies have one in place. The consequences are costly: 95% of organizations have suffered financial losses during emergencies, with 72% describing the damage as moderate to severe.
Leaders cite natural disasters, civil unrest, and supply chain breakdowns as their top concerns, yet 64% admit they lack real-time access to critical data during a crisis. Many also fear communications blackouts, with 79% worried about losing connectivity if infrastructure fails. According to Johan Land, senior vice president of product at Samsara, the issue is not the disasters themselves but the absence of predictive systems. “The biggest threat isn’t the crisis—it’s being unprepared,” he said in an official statement, emphasizing the need to use AI to anticipate risks and keep workers safe.
Technology Promises Help, If Teams Can Use It
Nearly nine in ten executives believe artificial intelligence will fundamentally reshape disaster response within five years. From wearable sensors that track worker safety to live dashboards delivering instant situational awareness, the technology exists, but adoption and training lag behind. Seventy-nine percent of frontline teams are not fully trained to use digital tools in high-pressure scenarios, while 82% of leaders say the growing frequency of disasters is forcing new kinds of technical training.
Where preparedness is strong, the results are clear: 93% of organizations with active emergency plans restore normal operations within three days of a major event. This performance underscores the growing advantage of companies that pair data visibility with practiced crisis management. Industry observers note that the conversation is shifting from recovery speed to predictive capacity, how early an organization can detect and mitigate disruption before it spreads across its network.
Toward Proactive Continuity
What stands out in the Samsara findings is how fragmented preparedness remains between boardroom intent and operational execution. Many companies have invested heavily in predictive maintenance, IoT visibility, and ESG reporting, but those same data networks are not yet wired into crisis command. That integration gap is where the next phase of resilience will be defined. Organizations that connect their operational telemetry to scenario-based response models can transform crisis management from a compliance exercise into a continuous capability, one that not only protects assets, but preserves business continuity as a measurable performance metric.
