General counsel are ending 2026 with a different set of pressures from the ones they started the year with. Regulatory change, AI-related risk and cyber threats now lead the risk register for legal leaders, outpacing (for now) the geopolitical volatility that dominated earlier in the year. The governance structures, systems and readiness capabilities needed to manage these risks are still catching up.

The Q4 2026 GC Risk Index, conducted by Diligent Institute in partnership with Wilson Sonsini, captures how approximately 200 GCs and CLOs assess the current risk environment, how AI governance is taking shape, what role Legal is playing in AI deployment and how prepared organizations are to respond to cyber incidents and disclosure obligations.

In this report, you'll find:

How legal leaders are rating the current risk environment and what's driving it
How far AI adoption is outpacing governance
How AI governance is structured in practice, and where Legal sits in that model
What boards need to do to be ready to oversee AI effectively
How cyber risk governance is organized, and whether disclosure protocols have been tested

Download the report to benchmark your organization, frame your next board conversation and identify where governance needs to catch up with the pace of change.

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