In the corporate universe, the “long term” has shortened. If, in the past, semiannual planning was the norm, today the pace of legislative and technological change compresses the strategic horizon. In this state of continuous, accelerated adaptation, staying up to date with regulatory trends is critical, even if it is challenging.
For compliance leaders, 2026 should be ground zero for a new era of governance. It will be the year in which major global regulations, exhaustively discussed in recent months, come into force in full force, for example. This requires a level of data, technology, and process maturity that few organizations have today.
In other words, compliance is no longer an operational checklist used to avoid fines; it has become a pillar of strategy, reputation, and access to new markets.
To ensure your business is up to date on this new approach, we’ve identified five trends shaping the regulatory landscape in 2026.
1. The Age of Artificial Intelligence
The adoption of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed productivity, and this trend is expected to gain even greater momentum. According to Gartner, 65% of CMOs believe that advances in AI will dramatically transform their role in the next two years.
This is because AI allows you to perform tasks, analyze documents, automate processes, and more. When this tool is applied correctly, regulatory compliance becomes easier and more effective, resources (such as time and money) are maximized, and the risk of legal penalties and sanctions is reduced.
For example, with SoftExpert Suite, you can edit forms with AI, adding new fields, conditional rules, and triggers to responsive forms via commands within the system. This increases productivity, reduces errors, and generates scalability.
In addition, the Suite allows you to create processes from prompts in an interactive chat. To make this process even easier, you can use AI-generated BPMN models based on AI prompt suggestions, which are ready-made examples for everyday business situations. In this way, adoption barriers and the need for technical knowledge are eliminated.
However, the honeymoon with unregulated Artificial Intelligence is over. The EU AI Act (European Union Artificial Intelligence Act) has set a strict timeline that culminates in August 2026. On this date, most rules governing high-risk AI systems will take effect. This will directly impact companies that use AI in human resources, critical infrastructure, credit scoring, and biometrics, or that export to Europe.
For compliance leaders, this means it is no longer enough to ask, “How can AI help us?” The question of 2026 will be: “How will we ensure governance in the use of AI?”
What should be on your radar:
- Algorithm inventory – companies will need to map where Artificial Intelligence is being used and must classify it by the level of risk it presents.
- AI TRiSM – The concept of AI trust, risk, and security management (AI TRiSM) will no longer be a trend but a requirement for compliance with industry standards, such as ISO 42001.
- Transparency – The “black box” of algorithms will no longer be tolerated. The explainability of machine decisions will be mandatory for audits.
2. ESG present from marketing to auditing
For years, many ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives have lived in the realm of intentions and marketing. By 2026, climate and social compliance will be based on auditable data, burying greenwashing for good.
Data from PwC show that, despite regulatory uncertainties, 66% of companies have increased their resources dedicated to sustainability reporting over the past year. The goal is to anticipate requirements and get ahead of the competition.
The European Union’s CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is a major driver of this change. Although implementation is gradual, in 2026, a significant number of large companies are expected to publish reports for the fiscal year 2025, following strict dual materiality standards (financial and socio-environmental impacts).
Even companies with activity outside Europe will be impacted by the ripple effect in the supply chain. Therefore, if your organization supplies to multinationals, you will be charged for carbon and governance data with the same rigidity as a financial statement.
What should be on your radar:
- Integrate climate risks with traditional corporate risks – Sustainability management can no longer live in isolated spreadsheets; it needs to be connected to the company’s ERP and GRC system.
Read also: What is GRC and what are its benefits?
3. Cyber resilience and data protection
Until recently, information security focused almost exclusively on preventing attacks. The 2026 scenario shifts the axis toward resilience. The premise is that the attack will occur; The question is how (and how fast) your company recovers from it.
This urgency is both financial and operational: projections from Cybersecurity Ventures indicate that cybercrime will cost the world $12.2 trillion annually by 2031.
At the same time, the DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act), although focused on the European financial sector, has global implications and requires proof of recovery.
In addition, as quantum computing advances, Gartner warns that traditional cryptography could become insecure as early as 2029. This danger requires immediate preparation for post-quantum cryptography.
What should be on your radar:
- Review Business Continuity Plans – Cybersecurity compliance will require rigorous stress testing, not just documentation. Ensure your security infrastructure is robust, agile, and with continuous digital compliance measures.
4. Strategic compliance: compliance by design
A strong behavioral trend for 2026 is the transition from punitive compliance to ethical and cultural compliance. Regulations, such as the EU Whistleblowing Directive, have matured whistleblower protection, requiring whistleblowing channels that ensure absolute anonymity and non-retaliation.
The reason behind all this care is apparent: the cost of non-compliance has never been higher. Global fines for non-compliance reached the $14 billion mark in 2024, driven by increased regulatory scrutiny.
Therefore, strategic compliance must go beyond the whistleblowing channel. It’s about adopting a Compliance by Design mindset. That is, instead of creating a product and then verifying that it complies with the sector’s key standards, laws, ethics, and regulations, ethics and regulations are built into the process design from day one. Companies that fail to instill this culture face the most significant risk of all: reputational risk.
What should be on your radar:
- The ethical failure of a company or its supplier goes viral before the legal department can issue a note. As a result, the company’s reputation suffers, affecting its market performance, not to mention potential sanctions and fines for non-compliance.
5. Regulatory agility and the new ISO 9001:2026
Finally, the very foundation of quality management is about to evolve. The expectations for the ISO 9001:2026 version, scheduled for publication in 2026, indicate a standard that is more aligned with modern practices. The review is expected to place even greater emphasis on managing emerging risks and opportunities, sustainability, and organizational agility.
Next year should mark the end of static tools. In the face of regulations that change weekly and standards that are updated, manual management has become an unacceptable operational risk. A PwC survey finds that 82% of companies plan to increase technology investment to drive compliance activities.
That is, spreadsheets and email exchanges, for example, do not offer the traceability, information security, or speed necessary for the 2026 scenario.
What should be on your radar:
Continuous monitoring – Annual audits will be insufficient. Regulatory bodies and the market itself will require real-time visibility into compliance status. To do this, prioritize quality management systems with a robust digital transformation framework and task automation.
Conclusion
Looking ahead to 2026 may seem daunting given the complexity of the regulatory alphabet soup. However, disruptive and prepared leaders see this as an opportunity: companies that anticipate not only avoid sanctions but also operate more efficiently and convey greater confidence to investors.
The convergence of these trends points in a single direction: the need for an integrated platform. Managing risk, quality, ESG, and privacy in separate silos is a flawed strategy that will be punished as never before in the coming year.
Looking for more efficiency and compliance in your operations? Our experts can help identify the best strategies for your company with SoftExpert solutions. Contact us today!
FAQ: Regulatory Compliance Trends for 2026
Because 2026 will be the year when major global regulations come into force in full force. This will require companies to be highly mature in data, technology, and processes. Compliance will no longer be just an operational checklist to avoid fines and will become a fundamental strategic pillar for reputation and access to new markets.
The five trends are:
Artificial Intelligence with a focus on governance and regulation.
Auditable ESG and present from marketing to audit.
Cyber resilience and data protection.
Strategic compliance with the Compliance by Design approach.
Regulatory agility driven by the new ISO 9001:2026.
The European Union’s AI Law sets out a timeline that culminates in August 2026, when rules for high-risk AI systems will come into effect. Companies must conduct an inventory of algorithms, ensure transparency (explainability of decisions), and adopt AI TRiSM (AI trust, risk, and security management) practices.
ESG will leave the field of intentions and marketing to be based on auditable data, driven by the European CSRD directive. Reporting with rigorous double materiality will be required, and the impact will reach the global supply chain, forcing suppliers to submit carbon and governance data, among others.
While prevention focuses on preventing attacks, resilience assumes that the attack will occur and focuses on how quickly it recovers. The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) exemplifies this, requiring institutions to prove the ability to maintain operations during severe incidents. There is also a warning for preparation against encryption breaking by quantum computing.
It means embedding ethics and regulation into product and process design from day one, rather than checking for compliance only after they’re ready. This involves a transition from punitive to cultural and ethical compliance, including safe reporting channels and whistleblower protection.
The revision of the standard should focus on emerging risks, sustainability and agility. The text should point to the end of static tools (such as spreadsheets and email), which do not offer traceability or speed, requiring continuous monitoring and automated systems.
Generative AI, when applied well, automates processes and analyzes documents, facilitating compliance and reducing risk. Through systems such as SoftExpert Suite, it is possible to use AI to edit forms, create conditional rules and generate process models (BPMN) from prompts, among other features. This increases productivity and reduces errors.
