It’s not exactly a secret that the United States is a litigious country, or that U.S. companies are favorite targets of financial crime. But even so, executives think worse is coming.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of senior U.S. executives in legal, compliance and regulatory roles, surveyed by AlixPartners, said they expect corporate disputes — litigation and arbitration — to increase in 2026. The trend largely is the product of economic uncertainty and AI-driven upheaval deepening companies’ exposure to litigation, according to the consulting firm’s survey report.
Among those who said they expect more disputes, 47% anticipate increased legal conflict related to cybersecurity and data privacy.
As to financial crime, the consulting firm’s report referenced other studies indicating that U.S. businesses lost nearly 10% of their revenue to fraudulent activity last year — a 46% increase from 2024. The U.S. rate is 7.7% higher than the global average.
Alarmingly, fewer than half (48%) of the 500 executives surveyed by AlixPartners said they are “very prepared” to address cyber threats, even as the prevalence of attacks escalates. Just 36% of them expressed confidence in their risk-detection technologies, a severe decline from 56% a year ago. The negative trend “underscores the race to stay ahead of criminals armed with AI and other increasingly sophisticated tools,” the report noted.
The proportion of executives citing AI-powered cyberattacks as a top security concern doubled this year, to 34%. Eight in 10 said developments in federal AI policy pose strategic risks for compliance efforts.
As noted in the report, the White House in March released a national AI legislative framework directing Congress to regulate AI on a sector-specific basis via existing rulemaking bodies, instead of creating a new federal entity to do it, and directing it to preempt state AI laws “that impose undue burdens.”
“Other jurisdictions, including the EU, are advancing more prescriptive AI requirements, while some U.S. states are also enforcing increasingly stringent guidelines,” AlixPartners wrote. “The result: a fragmented regulatory landscape that … puts their compliance efforts at risk.”
Overall, data breaches in the United States reached a record level in 2025. Among the surveyed executives, 58% reported their companies as being victims of data privacy events, substantially up from 33% the previous year.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those polled said enhancing data encryption is among the most important privacy measures for their industry, yet only 50% said their company is doing it or plans to. Similar gaps were found for other highly ranked data privacy measures.
