Inside Southern California’s 2026 Business Landscape: AI Agents, LA28 & Wildfire Risks

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the August 2026 edition of Business by LA Times Studios, spotlighting the agility and technological breakthroughs driving Southern California’s business ecosystem forward.

In this issue, we look into Saviynt, the El Segundo-based identity security company navigating the shift to an AI-driven workforce. Its newest solution, “Zuma,” is built to manage the identities of AI agents rather than human employees – a response to how companies are now running dozens, sometimes hundreds, of AI agents per worker, with each needing the kind of oversight and access controls once reserved for people.

This magazine is also packed with need-to-know business insights, including:

• Views From the Top: Lifestyle brand founder Lauren Riihimaki and attorney Eric Perlmutter-Gumbiner unpack how creators are evolving from earners to true enterprise CEOs in 2026.
• Insurance Under Fire: Southland businesses are adopting IoT monitoring, private firefighting services and captive insurance structures to stay insurable amidst California’s commercial wildfire crunch.
• Predictive AI in Professional Services: Exploring how local law and accounting firms are using AI-driven predictive advisory and litigation analytics to preempt corporate risks rather than react to them.
• The Business of Sports: Inside the early race for LA28 Olympic sponsorships and why forward-thinking brands are locking in category exclusivity years ahead of the Games.

Plus the Q2 Commercial Real Estate Outlook for Southern California, as well as the Top Accounting and Business Advisory Firms in LA and OC, and the 2026 Private Equity and M&A Visionaries.

Whether you are navigating market shifts, scaling enterprise AI or planning long-term growth, we hope this issue provides valuable foresight for your journey.