A new global survey by Veeam has found that organisations worldwide are more exposed to data loss and outages than their leadership teams acknowledge, with a majority unable to survive prolonged disruptions and most boards yet to formally address AI-driven risks.

Released on World Backup Day (31 March), the Veeam Data Resilience Survey polled more than 4,000 C-suite and senior IT leaders across six markets.

Recovery Confidence Falls Short

76% of organisations said they would not survive more than three days of total data downtime, yet only 32% expressed confidence that they could fully recover critical data and business operations following a major cyberattack. 44% of IT leaders said they were not confident their organisations could recover all critical data within 24 hours of a significant incident.

Data outages have now overtaken economic recession as a top business concern: 62% of leaders said they view data outages as a greater financial threat than a recession.

Ransomware Tops the Threat List

67% of business leaders cited ransomware and cyberattacks as the risk they dread most in the year ahead. AI-related risks — including data leaks, algorithm bias, and uncontrolled automation — ranked second at 29%, signalling that AI-driven threats have become a mainstream boardroom concern.

Despite this, 38% of boards have never formally discussed AI-driven or emerging attack types, pointing to a significant governance blind spot.

Governance and Accountability Gaps

Only 31% of boards review resilience readiness on a quarterly basis. Less than half of organisations (49%) link executive KPIs to resilience outcomes, and only 24% of leaders regularly participate in crisis simulations for data loss or disruption.

The human toll of cyber incidents is also significant: 57% of leaders reported employees had resigned, threatened to resign, or experienced burnout following major cyber incidents.

“In today’s AI-powered world, trust in data is every organisation’s most valuable asset,” said Dave Russell, Senior Vice President and Head of Strategy at Veeam. “World Backup Day is a timely call to action for boards and IT leaders to ensure data resilience and comprehensive backup strategies are in place.”

83% of organisations experienced data outages in the past five years that were not resolved immediately, underscoring what Veeam describes as an urgent need for resilient, trusted data foundations.