Resilience Can Create a Strategic Advantage for Businesses in Australia, Aon Reports
Business resilience in Australia is becoming increasingly important as organisations navigate interconnected risks affecting operations, people, capital and strategy. A new Aon report examines how trade, technology, weather, and workforce challenges can influence business decisions and growth.
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) has released its Megatrends report, highlighting how resilience can help organisations protect value and pursue growth. The report examines four interconnected forces: Trade, Technology, Weather and Workforce. According to Aon, maintaining flexibility can give business leaders more options as conditions change.
“Resilience is no longer simply about preparing for disruption. It is about giving organisations the flexibility and confidence to keep making decisions when circumstances change,” said Kevan Johnston, CEO of Aon Australia. “For business leaders in Australia, that means understanding critical dependencies and making deliberate choices about where resilience can create the greatest value.”
The report highlights the need for a connected view of business risks. Weather can affect physical assets, supply chains and workforce availability. Meanwhile, AI investment raises questions about infrastructure, governance and skills. Changes in global trade can also affect supply, access to technology, and operating costs.
Aon’s 2026 Human Capital Trends Study found that 73% of organisations globally have deployed or are piloting AI. However, only 18% reported reskilling or upskilling most of their workforce during the previous year. This gap highlights the importance of aligning workforce readiness with technology investment.
Turning AI investment into business value also depends on reliable data and infrastructure, effective governance, and adaptable workforce skills. According to the report, relying too heavily on individual suppliers, technologies, infrastructure or skills can create vulnerabilities when conditions change.
For major business decisions, Aon encourages leaders to consider four connected areas: capital, operations, people and risk. This approach can help organisations identify dependencies, assess trade-offs and determine where greater flexibility could create value.
“The opportunity is to build resilience into major business decisions, giving leaders greater confidence to invest, adapt and pursue growth,” added Johnston.
Read Aon’s Megatrends report here.
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a global professional services firm operating in more than 120 countries. The company provides analytical insights and Risk Capital and Human Capital expertise to support business decisions, risk management and growth.
Aon Risk Services Australia Limited (Aon) has taken care in the production of this document, and the information contained in it has been obtained from sources that Aon believes to be reliable. Aon does not make any representation as to the accuracy of the information received from third parties and is unable to accept liability for any loss incurred by anyone who relies on it. The recipient of this document is responsible for their use of it.