AI Value Myths, New Loss Waivers, & Live Co-Pilot Agents | June 2, 2026

This week on SBA Today, Paul T Long and Tonya Mazurek are tackling: 📊 The AI Valuation Reality: 67% of intermediaries report AI has no material impact on business valuations yet—fundamentals still carry the deal. 🔓 New Prior Loss Waivers: Effective June 1, 2026, the SBA can grant case-by-case waivers if the affected owner held a non-controlling stake under 20% and never guaranteed the defaulted loan. 🚫 The Waiver Exception: This new waiver authority completely excludes prior defaults on PPP, EIDL, or other non-SBA federal financing. 🛠️ Live AI Agent Build: Paul shares his framework for feeding the SBA SOP into enterprise AI tools to answer tricky underwriting questions. The Bottom Line: Shifting policy limits mean more deals can clear previous hurdles, but underwriting accuracy remains paramount. If you are still manually digging through hundreds of pages of text to verify small loan projection requirements, you are burning valuable deal time.  🛠 This episode is sponsored by SBA Collective — empowering community banks and credit unions to compete and win in SBA lending. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this show are our own and not necessarily those of our employer.