A New Era of Supply Chain Risk

A new era of global supply chains has arrived as climbing tariffs, geopolitical conflicts, and intensified customs enforcement combine to make volatility—and heightened scrutiny—the new normal.

COVID-era buzzwords like resilience, diversification, and redundancy that have dominated boardrooms and C-suites’ supply chain agendas may no longer be enough to establish a competitive advantage or reduce exposure.

Even as supply chain diversification “hit an all-time high” in early 2026, major organizations continue to struggle with a lack of visibility into increasingly long and opaque supplier networks, logistics-related cost increases, and persistent uncertainty. As regulators expand accountability and draw on sophisticated detection technologies, cutting corners may mean much more than added paperwork or minor delays at the port. Businesses that lack effective supply chain due diligence could absorb significant financial penalties—or even see managers land behind bars.

Simultaneously, supply chain disputes are changing in kind. Rather than turning on whether goods arrived late, costs increased, or a supplier failed to perform, the next generation of disputes will center on substantive evidence. Boards and counsel now must answer not just “Can we keep supply moving?” but also “Can we reconstruct and defend the decisions that kept supply moving?”

In this new issue of ThinkSet, BRG experts from across the globe take up emerging supply chain challenges, offering practical guidance to proactively mitigate risk and in-depth insights into key industry sectors such as oil and gas, healthcare, retail, and construction.

A new era of global supply chain risk requires new ways to prevent it. We hope the articles in this issue help business leaders and their counsel do just that.

In this issue, Simon Schropp discusses how supply chain diversification has revealed a major operational vulnerability and how businesses can mitigate risk as customs enforcement intensifies. John Dillon, Richard Easler, and Caleb Sturm break down construction tariff uncertainties, supply chain disruption, and potential disputes. Meanwhile, Robert Chamberlain, Steven Klemencic, and Mason Pan examine why disputes will increasingly turn on proof and how value chain risk management can help reduce exposure.

Further, Jason Robertson, Seth Eisenstein, and Brian Murphy explain why resilience is no longer a competitive advantage and how executives can turn speed of action into clear financial returns. Franco Ciulla and Enrique Glotzer highlight the oil and gas solutions industry’s move to a dual-speed model: a global cost-optimized layer for commoditized inputs and a regional, reliability-focused layer for critical services and sensitive technologies. Finally, Eric Wyner shares the importance of reliable data sets in building artificial intelligence (AI)-powered healthcare supply chains.

—Tri MacDonald, BRG Chief Executive Officer & President