New research from Zero100 shows a sharp divergence between public optimism about AI’s transformative potential and the much more cautious assessments inside global operations teams. While cyber incidents now dominate continuity concerns, doubts about organizational readiness are tempering expectations for agentic AI, despite rising pressure to deliver technology-led productivity improvements.
Cyber Threats Rise as the Most Immediate Operational Shock
Zero100’s analysis points to a structural shift in how companies interpret business continuity risk. More than a third of large enterprises (35%) cite cyber incidents as the biggest threat over the next year, well ahead of geopolitical tensions (20%), trade policy disruptions (16%), or labor-related stoppages (8%). The prioritization reflects not only the frequency of cyberattacks, but the speed at which they can destabilize core systems. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (62%) say they must react within minutes or hours to contain damage, a timeline unmatched by tariff or policy disruptions, which most leaders say take days or weeks to navigate.
This real-time exposure echoes recent industry cases, including the 2023–24 wave of ransomware events that hit automakers, logistics providers, and healthcare networks. Trade reports show cyberattacks are now a leading driver of unplanned factory shutdowns and inventory write-downs, an operational risk pattern far more volatile than the tariff environment, despite its political visibility.
The research also reveals a split in how AI is perceived as a security instrument. Half of COOs believe AI will strengthen cyber resilience, while 43% fear it could enlarge the threat surface. The divide suggests companies are moving ahead with modernization efforts while simultaneously confronting the unintended cybersecurity risks that automation may amplify.
AI Expectations Cool as Deployment Challenges Become More Visible
The study highlights a widening mismatch between CEO commitments on AI productivity and the operational confidence required to deliver them. Fewer than one in five COOs (17%) believe their company can meet the majority of AI targets communicated to shareholders on time. Despite broad belief that AI can ease supply shortages (64%) and help manage skill gaps (58%), leaders remain skeptical about speed and scale.
Only 7% expect agentic AI to fundamentally redesign most workflows within two years. The prevailing outlook, held by roughly two in five COOs (43%), is that the technology will influence just 11–25% of workflows in the near term. Rather than rapid reinvention, companies anticipate targeted use cases where data quality, system integration, and governance constraints are manageable.
Zero100’s readiness scores reinforce this pragmatism. Technology infrastructure ranks highest (6.2 out of 10), but foundational elements such as data quality (5.8), process maturity (5.6), and workforce skills (5.5) lag meaningfully behind. This aligns with recent industry reporting that points to uneven digital baselines as a core friction slowing AI deployment across manufacturing, logistics, and retail.
Cost pressure further shapes the landscape. Keeping expenses down accounts for nearly a third of COO performance metrics (29%), roughly double the weight given to revenue growth (15%) or improved customer service (17%). With brand trust typically representing just 8% of the scorecard, long-horizon innovation efforts often lose ground to short-term cost containment, restricting the organizational bandwidth needed to adopt new AI architectures.
What This Signals for Operational Resilience
An emerging consideration is how companies balance urgency with preparedness. Cyber incidents force immediate action; AI transformation demands long-cycle investment. The tension between these two timelines is becoming a defining management challenge. As recent analyses from industry observers show, organizations that pair disciplined cyber readiness with staged AI deployment tend to avoid the abrupt slowdowns that occur when ambition outpaces operational grounding. The next phase of resilience will likely rest less on the scale of AI commitments and more on how effectively businesses sequence capability building against the rising tempo of digital threats.
