OneTrust Research: 86% of Organizations Experienced AI-Related Incidents, Yet Few Slowed Deployment

OneTrust’s 2026 AI-Ready Governance Report reveals how agent adoption is outpacing oversight and governance friction is driving shadow usage as enterprises press ahead with AI despite the risks

The OneTrust 2026 AI-Ready Governance Report

ATLANTA, Sept. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — OneTrust, the AI-Ready Governance Platform™, today released findings from its 2026 AI-Ready Governance Report, revealing how the gap between AI adoption and oversight is creating operational risk as AI grows more capable, connected, and autonomous across the business. The research captures the new reality of governing systems already in motion: oversight remains fragmented, and AI risk management workloads are rising, yet even widespread incidents are doing little to slow adoption.

The second annual AI-Ready Governance Report is based on a survey of 1,200 senior business decisionmakers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, and Singapore, conducted by Sapio Research on behalf of OneTrust.

Key Findings from OneTrust’s 2026 AI-Ready Governance Report:

• AI agents are moving faster than oversight: While 87% of surveyed organizations encourage AI agent use, only 47% have clear governance, oversight, and controls in place. Meanwhile, 28% experienced two or more incidents in the past year in which AI systems or agents took unapproved actions.
• AI incidents are widespread, but organizations are not hitting the brakes: 86% of respondents experienced at least one of the AI-related incidents measured in the survey in the past year, such as sensitive data or intellectual property exposure, unapproved employee AI use, misinformation, or data loss. In response, surveyed organizations were most likely to increase employee training (49%) and least likely to pause or slow AI deployment (27%).
• When approvals lag, shadow AI grows: One-third (33%) of surveyed organizations have seen employees use unapproved AI because approved tools or processes were not available quickly enough, suggesting that governance friction is fueling shadow AI and moving use beyond approved channels.

“Every company is trying to hold on to two things at once: the speed they are getting from AI, and control over what AI does,” said Blake Brannon, Chief Innovation Officer at OneTrust. “The research says most are losing the second while working harder than ever to keep it. That is a design problem, not a staffing problem.”

Brannon continued, “Governance has always relied on knowing in advance what a system will do. AI, however, is faster, there is far more of it, and the same request can be helpful in one context and harmful in another. Static rules worked for governance when a person made every decision. Now, judgment has to live in the runtime itself, deciding and enforcing in the moment AI acts, and standing apart from the tools it governs.”

More Insights from the Data: AI Governance Budgets and Workloads

• Managing AI risk demands more time: 80% of respondents say their function spends more time managing AI-related risk than they did 12 months ago, with an average increase of 26% in working hours.
• Organizations are putting more money behind AI governance: Nearly all surveyed organizations (98%) plan to increase budgets for technologies used to govern AI in the next financial year, with an average planned increase of 25%.

Download OneTrust’s 2026 AI-Ready Governance Report to Learn:

• Which AI-related incidents are keeping organizations up at night
• What is creating friction as organizations scale AI
• How organizations are responding to AI-related incidents
• Where governance investment is headed next

2026 AI Governance Research and Data
Based on OneTrust’s 2026 AI-Ready Governance Report, which surveyed 1,200 senior business decisionmakers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, and Singapore:

• 87% of surveyed organizations encourage AI agent use, but only 47% have clear AI governance, oversight, and controls in place.
• 28% of surveyed organizations experienced two or more incidents in the past year in which AI systems or agents took unapproved actions.
• 86% of surveyed organizations experienced at least one AI-related incident in the past year.
• 27% of surveyed organizations slowed or paused AI deployment in response to AI-related incidents.
• 33% of surveyed organizations have seen employees use unapproved AI because approved AI tools or processes were not available quickly enough.
• 80% of surveyed organizations say their function spends more time managing AI-related risk than it did 12 months ago, with an average increase of 26% in working hours.
• 98% of surveyed organizations plan to increase budgets for AI governance technology in the next financial year, with an average planned increase of 25%.

TrustWeek 2026
OneTrust will bring together leaders and practitioners across consent and privacy, technology risk, and AI governance at TrustWeek 2026, taking place September 28–30 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. The three-day event will feature keynotes, breakout sessions, hands-on learning, certification training, and peer discussions focused on how organizations are adapting governance for the AI era. Register here.

About OneTrust
OneTrust, the AI-Ready Governance Platform™, enables innovation through the responsible use of data and AI. Trusted by thousands of companies, including over half of the Fortune 500, we help businesses govern well and move fast, turning responsible data use into a catalyst for growth. To learn more, follow OneTrust on LinkedIn or visit www.onetrust.com.    
© 2026 OneTrust LLC. All rights reserved. OneTrust and the OneTrust logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of OneTrust LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. 

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