• Small businesses face financial risks from AI automation without spending limits, explicit permissions or shutdown controls, an October 29, 2026, analysis warned.
• AI adoption remained below 20% among businesses with four or fewer employees, compared with 37% at firms employing at least 250.
• Usage at firms with fewer than 20 employees showed no meaningful change over six months, lagging growth among larger businesses.
• Nearly two-thirds of organizations surveyed reported agent-related incidents over 12 months; 35% of those incidents involved financial losses.
• Only 5% of companies had critical controls in place, although 42% expected AI agents to operate autonomously by 2030.

Disclaimer: This news brief was created by Public Technologies (PUBT) using generative artificial intelligence. While PUBT strives to provide accurate and timely information, this AI-generated content is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or legal advice. Old National Bancorp published the original content used to generate this news brief on October 29, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained therein.