2026 Global Survey Statistics

From investing in structure to impacting behavior

Compliance programs are better resourced, more strategic, and more visible to leadership than ever before. But investment in structure alone is not enough – this year’s findings reveal how compliance shows up in leadership behavior and reinforces how employee trust determines whether a program truly works.  

As readers of this report will understand, structure alone does not determine whether a program is effective. Organizational culture, as well as lived experiences and behaviors, will always play a significant role in program effectiveness.

The leadership consistency gap

Leaders today overwhelmingly characterize compliance as a strategic advantage to the business. Yet the data tells a more complicated story – one in which that view is not consistently reflected in behavior across the organization. 

The 2026 data reflects a strong endorsement of compliance at the highest levels of the organization. However, given that respondents could select multiple responses, we also found some tension. Almost half of leaders (47%) describe compliance programs as a “necessary evil” that can inhibit business.

R&C headcount and budget

Organizations with larger R&C teams are more likely to rate their programs as mature or well-developed. This correlation between headcount and self-reported program quality likely reflects the operational benefits of added capacity – broader coverage, more formal processes and increased visibility.  

We also see program budget is strongly correlated with program maturity. For each step up in self-assessed maturity, respondents told us their program has twice the budget of the previous level.

AI’s role amplifying compliance culture

If we look at where AI is being adopted today within the Risk and Compliance function, it is evident that it is not experimental in nature. Only 4% of respondents said they were not using AI anywhere in their compliance program. AI use in training is north of 40% adoption , and  items like board reporting, investigations and third-party risk screening are gaining ground. Those functions enable high-level decision making about what to focus on, who is accountable and who to do business with; these are far from tactical back-room operations.