Our previous “top watchouts” were more than accurate — they were a roadmap. Now, as we dive into the second half of the 2020s, M Booth and our partners are unveiling the next set of signals you can’t afford to miss.
SHORT-SIGHTED DECISIONS BRING LONG-TERM DAMAGE
Vanessa Vaughn Mathews, Founder and Chief Resilience Officer, Asfalis Advisors: Declining leadership maturity is fueling reputation risk. Seemingly short-sighted executive decisions in 2025 are seeding long-term negative effects on employee relations, community goodwill and customer trust. Going forward, leaders must shift to principled decision-making that deeply considers human impact, prioritizes empathy and openness in communication, and long-horizon choices that reflect kindness and organizational values.
BUSINESS WILL SHOULDER MORE DISASTER RESPONSIBILITY
Mark VanDyke, President, TranscendX: As government staffing and funding for disaster response continues to recede in 2026 and beyond, companies are more likely to face cripplingly long recovery times. When the public’s patience snaps, they will blame the business’s perceived lack of preparation, which will damage reputation. Before the next disaster strikes, the mandate is clear: overhaul business continuity plans, sharpen risk assessments, and update crisis communications capabilities now to anchor realistic stakeholder expectations.
THE RISE OF DECEPTIVE AI
Shannon A. Bowen, Ph.D., Founder & Executive Director, GSCC: Brands and organizations must prepare for the exponential use of AI for nefarious purposes. AI is already being deployed for deep fakes, disinformation, cybercrime, and political and cultural disinformation. Many industries will be targeted in 2026 and beyond. Organizations unprepared for the inevitable reputation fallout risk undermining stakeholder trust, the most vital commodity in strategic communication.
ADDITIONAL 2026+ WATCHOUTS FROM THE BOOTH
Our Issues & Crisis and Corporate Affairs experts advise preparation against these additional reputation threats and trends:
- “Dark Noise” breeds complacency. This continuing “Dark Noise” era of constant global crises (Polycrisis/Permacrisis) can lead executives to dangerously believe their brands can weather mid-level crisis flashpoints with minimal response. “It’ll blow over” mentality is a mistake. Today’s consumer demands responsibility, and determined detractors and plucky competitors will leverage algorithms and long-tail LLM results to keep poorly-managed crises in the public consciousness.
- Inevitably, brands may have to address political repercussions. An aggressive U.S. foreign policy may fuel nationalism and anti-Americanism abroad, creating risks like trade wars and boycotts. At the same time, domestic policy issues continue to widen citizen polarization, protest activity and potential violence. We anticipate that brands may no longer afford to sidestep and sideline-sit on political issues. Strong, multidisciplinary issues-management systems will soon be essential to protect reputation holistically, before stakeholders force companies to choose sides on the latest hot topic.
- AI takes a few leaps too far. History shows every technological leap spawns textbook examples of catastrophic failure. Recall: boiler explosions of the Industrial Revolution, flash-crashes of high-frequency stock trading, and tragic self-driving car wrecks. As workflows accelerate from “human-led, AI-assisted” to “AI-led, human-monitored,” the window for common-sense human intervention is rapidly narrowing. Therefore, an algorithmic-driven crisis seems inevitable in the next few years. This could include AI triggering an inadvertent predatory-pricing scandal or discriminatory bias event at high speed and scale.
- Internal ethics becomes a blind spot. Hiring more fractional experts, gig-consultants and autonomous AI agents risks losing the grounded, culture-conscious personnel who quickly spot transgressions or ethical lapses. Extra effort is required to provide these part-time positions with proper grounding, frameworks, protocols and situational awareness to ensure ongoing ethics and reputation management are applied.
We can partner with you to identify and stay ahead of these and other watchouts. To get started, email IssuesCrisis@mbooth.com for more information.
