In a world marked by escalating uncertainty, resilience is no longer a behind-the-scenes function, it’s fast becoming a boardroom priority. The recently released Business Continuity Institute’s (BCI’s) Resilience Vision 2030 report offers a compelling roadmap for how business continuity and resilience (BCR) must evolve to meet the demands of the next decade. It’s not just about recovery anymore, it’s about driving value, enabling agility and protecting reputation in a risk-saturated world.
From cost centre to strategic catalyst
Gone are the days when resilience was viewed as a sunk cost. Today, 60% of professionals surveyed believe resilience should be seen as a profit centre. Organisations are starting to realise that robust continuity plans do more than avoid losses, they streamline processes, inform strategy and build competitive advantage. Indeed, the majority cited benefits such as reduced disruption costs (86.7%), enhanced decision-making (75.5%) and reputational protection (70.9%) as core reasons to invest.
The rise of the Chief Resilience Officer
A significant shift is the push for resilience at the top table. Over 73% of respondents believe organisations should appoint a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) to integrate functions like cyber, supply chain and operational resilience. Whatever the role’s scope and title, the key is clear accountability for BCR and direct access to executive leadership.
Skills that shape the future
Resilience leaders of 2030 won’t just be planners, they’ll be strategic influencers.
The top skills identified including:
- Strategic leadership (68.4%)
- Risk management (56.1%)
- Supply chain resilience (45.9%)
But soft skills matter too. Communication, stakeholder engagement and cultural agility are increasingly critical to embedding resilience into the fabric of an organisation.
Technology as a resilience enabler
Expect a technology revolution in BCR.
The report flags several high-impact tools:
- AI-driven predictive risk management (73.3%)
- Advanced scenario simulation (72.8%)
- Real-time analytics dashboards (68.2%)
Such facilities have the ability to transform risk analysis and modernise traditional processes around business impact assessments and risk assessments, making them dynamic, automated and insight-driven to ensure organisations stay agile in the face of disruption.
Collaboration is key
The era of siloed continuity teams is ending. Future resilience will be cross-functional, drawing on IT, risk, operations and supply chain. This integration is seen as critical by 64.6% of respondents, but achieving it remains a top challenge, alongside budget constraints, limited leadership engagement and talent shortages.
The full BCI report is available to view here.
Griffiths & Armour recommends that organisations review their business continuity strategy and approach against this new report. Additional guidance on business continuity, supply chain and cyber risk management is also available within RMworks, Griffiths & Armour’s online risk management portal available to all clients. If you have any questions about the contents of this article, please get in touch.
