Closing the readiness gap: Why rising supply chain risk requires a new approach

New Avetta research reveals why rising supply chain risk is outpacing readiness — and how visibility, AI, and predictive insights may help prevent disruptions.

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Key Takeaways

77% of business leaders report rising supply chain and workforce risk, but many organizations still lack the visibility needed to respond proactively.
Only 44% have centralized, real-time visibility into third-party risk, creating a readiness gap that can lead to costly disruptions.
Compliance complexity continues to grow, with 71% of leaders reporting increased regulatory demands that strain resources and slow risk response.
AI adoption is widespread but still maturing, with most organizations using AI for supplier analysis, compliance monitoring, and predictive risk management.
The most resilient organizations are shifting from reactive risk management to proactive readiness, investing in real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, and connected supplier intelligence.

Supply chains have always operated in a world of uncertainty. But today's environment is different. Risk is increasing faster, emerging from more directions, and affecting organizations in ways that are increasingly difficult to predict.

To better understand how organizations are navigating this reality, Avetta recently surveyed 500 U.S.-based business leaders across procurement, supply chain, operations, and environmental health and safety roles. The findings point to a growing challenge we call the readiness gap: the widening distance between the complexity of modern supply chain risk and an organization's ability to anticipate, understand, and respond to disruptions before they occur.

The research shows that leaders recognize the challenge. What remains less certain is whether their organizations are equipped to meet it.

Risk is rising. Readiness isn't keeping pace.

More than three-quarters (77%) of surveyed leaders say supply chain and workforce risk has increased over the past 12 months. Yet only 44% report having fully centralized, real-time visibility into their third-party workforce, safety, and compliance factors. At the same time, 68% have already experienced workforce-related operational delays or shutdowns in the last 12 months.

That gap between awareness and action is significant.

Organizations know risk is increasing, but many are still relying on fragmented systems, manual processes, and delayed information. In fact:

More than half (56%) rely on risk visibility that is delayed, fragmented or largely manual.
Nearly two out of five (39%) identify risk only shortly before — or after it begins affecting operations.
More than one-third (38%) cite limited visibility into third-party risk as a major barrier to effective vulnerability response.

In other words, the challenge isn't simply that disruptions happen. It's that many organizations still don't have the connected intelligence required to see them coming soon enough to act decisively.

Compliance has become more complex

The survey also highlights another reality facing supply chain and safety leaders: compliance obligations continue to grow.

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondents say compliance requirements have become more complex over the last year, and 42% identify that increased regulatory complexity as a leading obstacle to effective risk response. Meanwhile, nearly one-quarter (24%) continue to manage risk through fragmented or manual processes, making it more difficult to adapt to changing regulations.

Perhaps most notably, 53% say compliance demands frequently divert time and resources away from frontline safety activities.

This presents an important question: How can organizations gain confidence beyond compliance?

The organizations making the greatest progress are increasingly treating compliance as one component of a broader readiness strategy — one that integrates safety, supplier performance, workforce qualifications, and operational risk into a unified view.

AI adoption is nearly universal — but maturity varies

Another finding from the research is the widespread adoption of AI.

Nearly every organization surveyed (97.2%) is already using AI somewhere within its supply chain risk management efforts. However, only 38% report that AI is fully embedded and scaled across operations. Most are still using it in limited ways or are early in their adoption journey.

Organizations are most commonly applying AI for:

Supplier analysis (55%)
Regulatory tracking (51%)
Compliance measurement (50%)
Predictive safety monitoring (46%)
Job safety analysis (42%)

These are meaningful use cases, but they also suggest many organizations are still focused on incremental improvements rather than fully transforming how risk information is gathered, interpreted, and acted upon.

The opportunity ahead is not simply automating existing tasks. It's enabling more proactive decision-making through better visibility, earlier insights, and stronger alignment across stakeholders.

The shift from reaction to readiness

Despite the challenges identified in the study, there is reason for optimism.

Organizations are increasingly investing in capabilities that move them beyond reactive risk management. More than half (52%) of respondents identify improved visibility into third-party safety, sustainability, and financial risk as a top investment to strengthen risk response, while nearly half (48%) point to real-time monitoring and predictive analytics as critical priorities. Additionally, 50% say improving predictive risk visibility is a key strategic objective for the coming year.

Taken together, these findings suggest that many organizations understand what readiness requires:

Earlier identification of emerging risks
Greater visibility across suppliers and contractors
Connected processes that reduce information silos
Predictive insights that support faster, more confident decisions

The conversation has shifted from "How do we recover from disruptions?" to "How do we prevent them from becoming disruptions in the first place?"

That's a fundamentally different mindset — and one that can create meaningful competitive advantage.

How Avetta helps close the readiness gap

At Avetta, we believe readiness is more than compliance. It's the ability to anticipate challenges, align stakeholders, and keep work moving safely and efficiently, even as conditions change.

Our unified platform helps organizations strengthen readiness by bringing together contractor and supplier prequalification, compliance management, safety programs, performance insights, and risk visibility in a single connected experience. Through AI-powered intelligence and expert support, organizations gain a clearer understanding of workforce and supplier risk, helping them identify vulnerabilities earlier and make more informed decisions.

As supply chains become more interconnected and risk becomes more dynamic, readiness will increasingly depend on visibility, alignment, and the ability to act before problems escalate.

Organizations may not be able to eliminate uncertainty. But they can become better prepared for it.

And that is what closing the readiness gap is all about.

Avetta is building the largest global community of hiring clients and suppliers that are Ready to Work. To close the readiness gap in your organization, speak to an Avetta expert.

Research Methodology

Avetta commissioned Censuswide to survey 500 U.S.-based senior business leaders between June 1–12, 2026. Respondents worked in procurement, supply chain, operations, and environmental health and safety functions at organizations with at least 200 employees across industries including construction, energy and utilities, facilities management, infrastructure, manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, and telecommunications. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. It adheres to the MRS code of conduct and Esomar principles.