With regulatory pressure, operational focus: Twelve action priorities for global privacy, AI governance, and cyber security compliance

Global businesses face growing privacy and data protection obligations. Duties can vary by jurisdiction, and many businesses struggle to decide where to direct finite compliance resources. This paper, developed from a panel the authors prepared for the IAPP Global Summit 2026, argues that the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the most comprehensive and demanding regimes to which most global businesses are already subject, can serve as a common compliance core whose requirements can be leveraged to satisfy most other data protection regimes. It distils that core into 12 concrete priorities, grouped into five themes: securing the foundation; disciplining the data; respecting the individual; building accountability; and governing automation while anticipating legal change. The paper maps each priority to its anchoring GDPR and CCPA provisions and to the enforcement and litigation exposure that makes it consequential for global privacy, artificial intelligence (AI) governance, and cyber security compliance. The authors conclude that although obligations differ in some details and many organisations face additional sector and jurisdiction-specific rules, businesses that act on these 12 priorities will address the requirements common to data protection laws worldwide and materially reduce risk. The wider implication, underscored by recent deregulatory proposals in the EU and contests between federal and state authorities over AI in the US, is that organisations need a durable, principle-led compliance core and a standing process to monitor change. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.