New research finds one in four COOs say their worst disruptions started outside their own walls, yet most struggle to assess the impact fast enough.

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, October 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Today, Sphera® announced new Sphera AI capabilities for Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) that connect external risk signals directly to the suppliers, products and operations they threaten. When a supplier fails, a port closes or a critical material runs short, businesses often struggle to understand which products and operations are exposed before the disruption reaches production lines, customer orders and revenue. The new capabilities are designed to close that gap, helping teams assess the impact and make decisions in minutes, not days.

The launch follows new Sphera research on the challenge of connecting external events, including supply chain risk, to operational consequences. Across five markets (US, UK, Germany, France and UAE), 58% of COOs say their most significant disruptions originated at least as much outside their organization as within it, rising to 71% in the UAE. The issue is now recognized at the C-suite, but when disruption arrives through suppliers, shipping routes, raw materials or trade restrictions, supply chain and procurement leaders must trace it to the products and sites affected, and fast.

The same research found COOs struggle most with identifying which suppliers or products are exposed (33%), deciding on the right mitigation (30%) and quantifying the business impact (29%). In other words, a disruption outside a company’s control, and often outside its foresight, can quickly become a serious operational problem for any team that can’t see what it touches.

“The boundary of the enterprise is no longer the boundary of operational risk,” said Paul Marushka, CEO and president of Sphera. “A disruption can begin with a supplier, a critical material or an event on the other side of the world, but its consequences are felt inside the business. The challenge is connecting those external signals to the products and operations they affect quickly enough to make a better decision. Sphera AI helps close that gap, while keeping people in control of the decisions that matter most.”

The new Sphera AI capabilities are built to bridge that divide. Conversational AI features let teams ask questions of their supplier and supply chain risk intelligence in plain language and see which suppliers, products and operations are exposed, without having to piece together multiple views by hand. The addition of a Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows organizations to pull insights directly from SCRM into compatible AI tools, so trusted risk information is available wherever decisions are made.

Within the Risk Response & Resolution Center, Sphera AI agents assess risk severity and supplier impact to show which risks need a response, cutting manual triage so teams can concentrate on the issues that matter most. Together, the capabilities connect Sphera’s external risk intelligence with supplier, product and business context, helping organizations move from signal to response. Teams spend less time investigating and more time protecting supply continuity, production and revenue.

The research suggests COOs are ready for this shift: Every one of the 750 COOs surveyed identified at least one risk-management activity they would let AI progress automatically, provided the right rules and controls were in place.

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About Sphera

Sphera is the leading Operational Intelligence Platform unifying risk, safety and sustainability insights into actionable intelligence that drives enterprise performance. Powered by Sphera AI, our platform integrates operational insights across EHS, sustainability, product stewardship, process safety and supply chains – providing enterprise-wide visibility, control and resilience that turns uncertainty into opportunity. We have served 8,500 customers and over one million users in 100 countries to help companies keep their people safe, their products sustainable and their operations productive. Learn more about Sphera at sphera.com.

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Jessica Martin
Sphera
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