Forrester: key AI risks for businesses in 2027

Artificial intelligence will continue to expand rapidly, but so will the risks that come with it. According to Forrester, AI failures in 2027 could lead to lawsuits, major IT outages, rising costs, and data breaches.

One of Forrester’s most serious scenarios is a lawsuit related to improper AI use. At a large company, this could result in the CEO or other senior executives stepping down.

The key issue may not simply be whether AI made a mistake, but who was responsible for its decisions and how effectively those decisions were controlled.

Forrester predicts that AI token spending could reach $1.5 billion in 2027. Autonomous AI agents are expected to be a major driver, as they can perform complex tasks independently and consume significantly more resources.

For businesses, this means managing not only AI adoption but also its cost.

A bug in AI-generated code could potentially cause a major disruption across multiple industries. Such an incident could be comparable in scale to the global CrowdStrike outage in 2024.

Companies relying on the same software and AI systems could be particularly vulnerable.

To reduce costs, companies may switch to cheaper AI models. However, security controls designed for one model may not always transfer to another.

This could create security gaps and increase the risk of sensitive data being exposed.

In 2027, companies will need to focus more on AI security, cost control, and accountability.

The key message from Forrester is simple: AI can perform tasks independently, but people and companies remain responsible for its actions.