AI tops exec risk lists — firms buy credits
AI has climbed to the top of executive risk rankings for the next three years, with concerns spanning ethics, climate and the energy footprint of large models — and companies are acting: Amazon and other tech giants are accelerating carbon‑credit purchases to offset AI infrastructure emissions. Analysts also warn some software firms could face valuation pressure as AI reshapes business models. ( )
56% of more than 500 global financial executives surveyed in January said AI would be a top concern over the next three years, compared with 16% who said it was a top concern over the prior three years. (sustainableviews.com ) (sustainableviews.com) The NC State/Protiviti 14th Annual Executive Perspectives survey polled 1,540 board members and C‑suite executives and flagged AI and other emerging technologies among the leading near‑term risks for the 2026–2028 horizon. (poole.ncsu.edu ) (poole.ncsu.edu) Internal auditors surveyed in The IIA’s Risk in Focus 2025 report—3,544 respondents across 124 countries—ranked climate change and digital disruption, including AI, as the fastest‑growing risks over the next three years. (theiia.org ) (theiia.org) Tracked market data show Big Tech’s purchases of voluntary carbon credits leapt from about 14,200 credits in 2022 to roughly 11.92 million in 2023, with projections of 24.4 million in 2024 and 68.4 million in 2025 according to Ceezer data reported by GuruFocus. (gurufocus.com ) (gurufocus.com) CNBC reported on March 16, 2026 that Microsoft is leading the surge in carbon‑credit purchases among Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft as those firms expand energy‑intensive AI infrastructure. (cnbc.com ) (cnbc.com) Amazon launched a carbon‑credit service on its Sustainability Exchange in March 2025 to sell “science‑based” credits to qualified customers, and the company’s reported emissions rose about 6% to roughly 68.25 million metric tons in 2024 amid data‑center expansion. (aboutamazon.com ) (aboutamazon.com) (geekwire.com) Thoma Bravo co‑founder Orlando Bravo and multiple market analysts have publicly said portions of the software sector deserve valuation resets as AI commoditizes specialized tools, and Fitch warned issuers with non‑mission‑critical products face higher disruption risk in its August 26, 2025 research note. (cnbc.com ) (cnbc.com) (fitchratings.com ) (fitchratings.com) Valuation research shows a bifurcation in market pricing: Q4 2025 analysis reports defensible LLM/GenAI assets trading at roughly 12–20x EV/Revenue while broader enterprise AI applications have normalized to about 3–6x EV/Revenue. (windsordrake.com ) (windsordrake.com)
