In this episode of Risk Is Our Business, Captain Michael Rasmussen beams aboard Richard Anderson, Chair, Non-Executive Director, and host of The Risk Appetite Podcast, to explore what separates bad risk management from good, and why so many organizations still get it wrong.

Together they chart the difference between process-driven compliance and purpose-driven risk. Bad risk management, they argue, is obsessed with heat maps, registers, and rituals; good risk management understands context, links to objectives, and drives intelligent decision-making.

The discussion turns to the UK landscape, where Richard and Michael assess whether organizations are truly getting risk management right. The answer, as ever, depends, on sector, circumstance, and above all, personality. From there, the conversation warps into the heart of governance i.e., risk appetite—not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a compass defined by context and aligned with objectives.

They close by examining risk culture and communication, emphasizing how scenario planning and storytelling can help leaders make sense of uncertainty. For anyone trying to bridge the gap between compliance and comprehension, this episode is a navigational chart for risk done right, because every enterprise, at warp or impulse, needs to know just how much uncertainty it can handle.

In this episode of Risk Is Our Business, Captain Michael Rasmussen beams aboard Renee Murphy, independent industry analyst, storyteller, and one of the most recognizable voices in GRC, to tackle one of the most misunderstood dimensions of risk: reputation.

Renee explains why reputational risk remains so elusive for many organizations, and why ERM frameworks often have metrics for finance and operations but almost none for reputation, customer experience, or employee experience. Together, they dissect recent examples of brand turbulence (from Cracker Barrel to Anheuser-Busch to Target) and explore why reputational fallout can and should be quantified.

The conversation ventures into ESG and stewardship, showing how environmental and social commitments carry enormous reputational weight and why they can’t be managed in isolation. Renee emphasizes the need for risk leaders to engage with every department, especially sales and marketing, since some of the biggest reputational crises are born from campaigns gone wrong.

For boards, CROs, and GRC professionals, this episode reframes reputational risk not as an abstract concept but as a measurable, manageable force that determines whether your organization is trusted or left adrift in the void.

In this episode of Risk Is Our Business, Captain Michael Rasmussen beams aboard Amir Ramezanpour, Vice President of Global Risk Technology and Intelligence, and Global Risk Transformation Office at Manulife, to explore how risk must be defined, framed, and operationalized in a world of constant unpredictability.

Michael and Amir both lean on ISO 31000’s central principle, risk as the effect of uncertainty on objectives, to emphasize why context and clarity of objectives are mission-critical. From there, the conversation dives into risk intelligence, and how organizations can plan for the unplannable by building frameworks and operations designed to thrive in turbulence.

They explore engagement with the first line of defense, asking whether risk is still seen as a bureaucratic pain or whether it can become a trusted partner in helping leaders make better business decisions. Amir shares his vision for how agentic AI and digital twins will power the future of risk management, automating the routine, enabling what-if scenario planning, and equipping leaders to simulate futures before charting their course.

Rather than striving to eliminate uncertainty, Amir reminds us that the real mission is to navigate it. By grounding risk in objectives, engaging the first line as active copilots, and harnessing new tools like risk intelligence and AI-driven simulations, leaders can transform unpredictability into strategic advantage. For those ready to lead at warp, the path forward is to embrace uncertainty with purpose, clarity, and resilience.