Ground Picture // Shutterstock

Running a small business has its fair share of risks. To help owners and entrepreneurs understand emerging threats in 2026 and how to prepare, NEXT compiled a list with insights from experts in claims, underwriting, AI and insurance products.

This article identifies the biggest challenges you need to watch out for, what types of businesses will be most affected and the practical steps you can take right now to protect your business.

1. AI misuse and lack of governance could increase your exposure

Businesses most likely to be affected by AI risks:

• Any business that uses AI tools to produce client-facing work
• Businesses using AI for marketing content
• Businesses using AI tools for proposals or quoting
• Consultants producing deliverables or advice
• Professional services including accountants, lawyers, IT consultants, software developers and creative professionals

This is perhaps the singular biggest blind spot of 2026: Small businesses using AI tools without governance could lead to wrong client deliverables, privacy breaches and IP leakage.

There’s no doubt that AI is helping small businesses move faster — creating marketing materials, generating invoices, interpreting data and more. But without proper oversight or controls, these tools can introduce serious risk that can lead to client disputes, reputational harm and financial loss.

“AI can be incredibly helpful, but you still need strong review processes in place to make sure its outputs are accurate, secure and aligned with what your customers expect, or you risk costly losses,” says Julie Roseland, head of commercial liability claims at NEXT.

“As more small businesses turn to generative AI for things like ads, social media posts and other content, we’ll see new vulnerabilities emerge in 2026. When those tools produce material that isn’t fully reviewed, the risk of defamation, copyright infringement, false advertising or other misrepresentations increases.”

And don’t make the mistake of thinking AI risk is limited to tech-forward companies like software developers or marketing consultants. Imagine a construction firm sending proposals, retail businesses generating automated responses to customers or restaurants using AI tools to create promotional content.

Any company that uses generative AI to draft emails, reports, invoices, marketing content or customer communications can inadvertently push out incorrect, harmful or copyrighted material.

How small businesses can mitigate AI risks and liability:

• Train employees on privacy and data handling
• Require human review on all AI-generated content (including review by licensed or credentialed professionals when possible)
• Review client agreements for liability language
• Add professional liability insurance to help protect your business from some of the costs of professional errors

2. Cyber incidents could cau

Francisco Kjolseth // The Salt Lake Tribune

On a Monday, Gov. Spencer Cox stood in front of a crowd at the Salt Lake International Airport as Olympic officials unveiled both the official name and the transitional logo for the 2034 Winter Games. By Tuesday morning, the governor was standing in front of a room full of reporters and joking that the Utah 2034 logo had already fulfilled its purpose.

“It’s really brought people together,” he said, “because everyone seems to not like it.”

The logo has been controversial at best, widely panned at worst. It’s designed with a blocky font that mimics shapes found in Utah’s landscape — the most obvious of which is the “A” that replicates the contour of Delicate Arch. Commenters on social media sites and news articles have quipped it’s the same font used in CAPTCHAs or their fourth-grade book reports. Others complain it’s ugly or simply difficult to read.

To which its designers say: Try looking at it through a different pair of eyes.

The creators of the Utah 2034 transitional logo conferred with athletes with vision disabilities to, they say, make it as impactful as possible for as many people as possible in as many places as possible. They’ve created a piece that they say reflects the local Olympic and Paralympic committee’s whole-state approach to the 2034 Winter Games. And, they’ve done it all while working within the strict parameters set by the International Olympic Committee for transitional logos — which, in and of themselves, are fairly new.

Plus, noted Nate Morley, the lead designer, it’s art. It’s meant to be provocative.

“Art is subjective. And some people like things, and some people don’t like things. And that’s totally to be expected, and we certainly appreciate that,” Morley, a Utahn whose company, Works Collective, also designed the LA28 Olympic logo, told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I think the intent is to learn kind of why the logo looks the way it looks — what it’s meant to represent — and build that.”

The shape inside the zero, for instance, is evocative of a pictograph, according to a website local Olympic organizers launched to explain the controversial wordmark. The curves of the number two mimic those of a winding mountain road. When stacked, its letters and numbers form a checkerboard pattern reminiscent of Utah’s street grids.

Yet the design goes even deeper than that, said Danelle Umstead, an athlete with low vision.

“Every Olympic logo gets backlash,” Umstead, a four-time Paralympian, said in a text. “People forget that logos aren’t created to be trendy — they’re designed to be recognizable for decades, across stadiums, uniforms, merchandise, tiny smartphone screens, and global broadcasts.

“A lot of the early criticism focused on aesthetics alone, without understanding that accessibility was part of the design story.”

And that is a process into whi

ART STOCK CREATIVE // Shutterstock

In America, fraud is no longer a static threat. It has instead become an evolving ecosystem, continually powered by artificial intelligence, automation, and an ever-expanding digital footprint. Consumers have spent much of the past decade reacting to the latest scam of the month, whether that be a phishing text, bogus charges, or something else. However, with 2026 on the horizon, scams are set to become more adaptive, personalized, and embedded in the very systems we rely on daily.

Forward-looking insight has never been more important. By identifying the next wave of fraud before it reaches its full scale, consumers can start to operate from a place of anticipation rather than damage control. Lifeguard has analyzed the top trends across cybersecurity and early-warning research to compile four prominent emerging fraud trends to help you get ahead of the new year’s most dangerous threats.

Four emerging fraud trends

To navigate 2026 safely, it helps to know what’s coming. Here are four fraud and scam trends that are already shaping up to be a part of the next generation of threats:

1. AI “fraud agents” and the hyper-personalized deepfake

Generative AI is no longer just a science fiction concept. Deepfakes and attacks using synthetic documents are expected to surge drastically as cybercriminals continue to learn how to twist artificial intelligence to their advantage. This allows fraudsters to generate convincing voice, video, and document forgeries that impersonate communications from loved ones, colleagues, institutions, and more, making traditional trust signals unreliable.

As outlined by Finra, a nonprofit composed of industry and public regulators, effective strategies to combat generative AI include using biometric verification, enabling multi-factor authentication, and using identity-theft protection services.

2. Synthetic identity fraud: The “Frankenstein” profile

Rather than stealing an existing person’s identity, fraudsters are beginning to create synthetic identities. These aliases merge real social security numbers or personal information about individuals with fabricated names, addresses, and credentials. According to TransUnion’s 2025 fraud report, which analyzes leading fraud trends across the globe, identity-data exposure is shifting more towards quality over quantity. This makes synthetic identities more effective.

Fake identities can quietly damage your credit or open accounts in your name. What’s new (and dangerous)is the fact that these false identities can tie back, in part, to your real data. This means that real-world damage can surface years later. To be proactive, monitor your credit report and freeze all household credit at the first sign of any type of misuse.

3. The “roach motel” subscription and data trap