Program integrity leaders met at the GovExec Fraud, Waste & Abuse (FWA) Forum 2026 at the Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center with one shared priority: stopping FWA before funds are distributed. The intensity to reduce FWA has accelerated, and the techniques behind it have become more sophisticated through Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated content, synthetic identities and impersonation. Across sessions, speakers described a move from reactive investigation toward proactive prevention, powered by AI predictive analytics, secure data sharing and cross-agency collaboration. They were equally clear that this innovation must be balanced with governance, privacy and human oversight.
Five insights emerged that define the path forward for protecting public funds and strengthening program integrity.
Prevention Before Payment Is Becoming the New Standard
Agencies are increasingly focused on identifying fraudulent activity before payments are made, rather than investigating losses afterward. A core part of this approach is establishing what normal behavior looks like so anomalies can be flagged earlier. Predictive analytics and early warning indicators drew significant attention as agencies explore how AI and advanced analytics can surface behavioral patterns.
Investigative work also strengthens prevention. Criminal investigation leaders noted that tax data often reveals patterns that traditional detection methods do not show, and that tax fraud can indicate broader criminal activity. When investigative findings feed back into internal controls instead of staying within enforcement, organizations build stronger defenses for the future.
Identity Assurance Is the Foundation of Modern Fraud Programs
Identity verification was one of the most discussed priorities across the forum. Synthetic identities, stolen credentials, impersonation and AI-generated documentation are giving investigators new factors to address. As techniques evolve, confirming that individuals are who they claim has become the foundation of program integrity. Speakers pointed to Do Not Pay (DNP) and other identity verification initiatives as effective ways to reduce fraud risk at the point of entry.
Insider threat discussions reinforced this priority, noting that credential misuse and identity fraud also matter within internal environments. Strong internal controls and resilient system design help keep identity assurance consistent across every layer of an organization.
Responsible AI Pairs Advanced Capability with Strong Governance
AI is a powerful tool, and both malicious actors and cybersecurity personnel harness it to meet their needs. In turn, adoption continues to accelerate as agencies extend the reach of their teams across growing workloads. AI can analyze large data volumes and prioritize potential fraud indicators, so investigators can focus their expertise where it matters most. Speakers emphasized AI deployments should go through the same rigorous testing and validation as other mission-critical technologies, with explainability and auditability treated as core requirements.
Human oversight remains essential to address hallucinations, false positives, data quality and overreliance on automated outputs. Technology delivers the most value when it is paired with clear processes for selecting, validating and governing models, along with defined accountability.
Connected Data and Collaboration Extend Visibility Across Boundaries
Fraud schemes increasingly span multiple agencies, programs, systems and years, so broader visibility is essential to prevention. Speed, scale and complexity are reshaping the fraud landscape and encouraging agencies to move toward connected, data-driven models that complement traditional auditing. Balancing Privacy Act requirements with information-sharing needs remains an important consideration, and risk-based approaches offer a practical way to achieve both.
The Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC) Working Group shared resources on grant fraud detection and mitigation, focusing on Federal grant programs because of their scale and decentralized structure. The group is developing a fraud risk dashboard built on trusted Federal data sources to identify patterns and potential fraud indicators across grant workflows, with a prototype demonstration planned for November 12, 2026. Future work will expand to include fraud and broader detection best practices.
Culture, Trust and Accountability Strengthen Organizational Integrity
Strong fraud prevention programs depend on people and culture as much as on technology. Speakers noted that organizational culture and employee well-being can directly influence insider threat risk, which makes a supportive workplace part of effective risk management. Leaders are moving from activity-focused metrics toward outcome-focused measurements, recognizing that good data needs context to inform sound decisions. Empowering employees to make decisions and learn from mistakes encourages transparency and continuous improvement.
Several organizations described regularly reviewing fraud incidents to find opportunities to improve processes and policies. Strong relationships and trust across organizations enable the collaboration that aligns people, processes and objectives around shared mission goals.
Advancing a Proactive Future for Program Integrity
The GovExec Fraud, Waste & Abuse Forum 2026 showed that the future of fraud prevention depends on better identity verification, stronger data-sharing practices, responsible AI adoption and closer collaboration across Government.
AI offers significant opportunities to improve detection and risk assessment, and human oversight, governance, transparency and trust will remain essential to successful programs. Agencies that combine predictive capabilities with strong controls and a culture of accountability will be best positioned to protect public funds and sustain public trust.
As Carahsoft, The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, continues supporting Government program integrity, these insights inform how industry can partner with Public Sector agencies to deliver secure, data-driven fraud prevention.
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