# What is creating buying pressure in late 2026?

### Are regulatory deadlines still ahead—or already behind buyers?

For relevant New York-regulated financial organisations, the final phased requirements discussed here are **already in the past**. NYDFS’s implementation timeline sets **1 November 2025** for the expanded multifactor-authentication and asset-inventory provisions; a subsequent DFS review identifies **15 April 2026** as the annual notification deadline covering those and other Part 500 requirements. Applicability and exemptions need entity-specific review. ([dfs.ny.gov](https://www.dfs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2023/11/cybersecurity_implementation_timeline_covered_entities.pdf?utm_source=openai))

**Buyer implication:** a late-2026 business case should distinguish remediation of an existing evidence gap from preparation for a future deadline. Do not recycle 2025 compliance dates as forthcoming urgency, and do not assume that buying software establishes compliance.

### Are AI and continuous controls monitoring lowering costs yet?

The public evidence does not support a universal saving. In its **13 October 2026** discussion of GRC customer references, Forrester highlighted unmet continuous-controls-monitoring expectations, AI consumption-cost concerns and some customers’ efforts to reduce costly customisation. These are qualitative findings, not a representative savings estimate. ([forrester.com](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/grc-customers-have-spoken-four-market-realities-vendors-cant-ignore/))

For procurement, translate those findings into three tests:

1. **Continuous evidence:** require a working integration, failed-sync scenario and named maintenance owner—not a connector logo.
2. **AI cost control:** request the usage meter, allowance, overage rate, reporting and spending-control mechanism.
3. **Configuration discipline:** ask the implementation partner to identify what can be delivered through supported configuration and what creates continuing custom maintenance.

For an **AI-enabled GRC platform comparison**, measure reviewer effort and correction work on buyer-approved synthetic material. Do not import supplier productivity claims into the financial model without a buyer-specific test.