Blogs
The Future of GRC: AI GRC, Integrated GRC, or Agile GRC?
- GRC
- 05 March 25
4 min read
Introduction
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is rapidly evolving as organizations face increasing regulatory complexities, cybersecurity threats, and business disruptions. Traditional GRC frameworks are no longer sufficient, leading to the rise of AI-driven GRC, Integrated GRC, and Agile GRC. But which approach defines the future of GRC? Let’s explore these three approaches and their impact.
1. AI GRC: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Risk and Compliance
AI is revolutionizing GRC by automating complex tasks, providing predictive insights, and reducing compliance risks. AI GRC integrates advanced technologies like Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Generative AI to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and productivity.
Key Benefits of AI GRC:
- Automated Risk Identification: AI scans vast datasets to detect anomalies, fraud, and compliance violations in real-time.
- Regulatory Intelligence: AI-driven tools analyze regulatory updates and map them to internal policies, ensuring continuous compliance.
- Predictive Analytics: AI forecasts potential risks, allowing businesses to take proactive measures before issues escalate.
- Smart Audit & Reporting: AI automates evidence collection, streamlining audits and reducing manual workload.
Future Outlook: AI GRC will be a game-changer for highly regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and cybersecurity. However, it requires robust ethical AI frameworks and data governance to ensure accuracy and fairness.
2. Integrated GRC: Breaking Silos with a Connected Approach
Integrated GRC (IGRC) aims to break down silos by centralizing risk, compliance, and governance functions across the organization. Unlike traditional GRC, which operates in isolated departments, IGRC provides a unified risk view through a centralized platform and approach. By incorporating a Connected GRC strategy, organizations can link disparate data sources and processes in real time, enhancing collaboration and enabling proactive risk management.
Key Benefits of Integrated GRC:
- Centralized Risk Visibility: Combines risk, compliance, and security data for better decision-making.
- Regulatory Alignment: Ensures a cohesive approach to multiple regulations (GDPR, SOX, HIPAA, ISO 27001, etc.).
- Process Standardization: Enhances operational efficiency by aligning risk and compliance processes across departments.
- Technology-Driven GRC: Uses cloud-based platforms and automation to streamline compliance management.
- Connected Risk Insights: Integrates and correlates data across silos, providing a real-time, connected perspective on risk across the organization.
Future Outlook: Integrated GRC augmented by Connected GRC capabilities, will become essential for large enterprises managing multi-jurisdictional risks. However, successful implementation requires strong cross-functional collaboration and scalable technology solutions.
3. Agile GRC: A Dynamic and Adaptive Model
In today’s fast-paced business environment, static compliance models no longer work. Agile GRC brings a dynamic, iterative, and responsive approach to risk management and compliance. It follows Agile methodologies, ensuring faster decision-making and adaptability.
Key Benefits of Agile GRC:
- Real-Time Risk Management: Continuous monitoring of risks instead of periodic risk assessments.
- Regulatory Adaptability: Quickly adjusts to changing laws and compliance requirements.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Encourages active participation from compliance, IT, and business teams.
- Minimal Bureaucracy: Reduces compliance overhead with lightweight processes and automation.
Future Outlook: Agile GRC is ideal for tech-driven and innovation-focused organizations that require rapid compliance adaptation. However, it demands a cultural shift from rigid compliance structures to flexible, iterative workflows.
The Future of GRC: A Converged Model
The future of GRC will not be about choosing one approach but rather a hybrid model combining AI GRC, Integrated GRC, and Agile GRC. Organizations must:
- Leverage AI for automation, analytics, and proactive risk management.
- Adopt an Integrated GRC platform to unify risk and compliance efforts.
- Embrace Agile GRC principles to stay adaptive and responsive to regulatory changes.
The ultimate goal? A resilient, intelligent, and proactive GRC framework that aligns with business strategy and innovation.
Final Thoughts
The GRC landscape is transforming rapidly. Organizations that embrace AI-driven automation, integrated risk management, and agile compliance will thrive in the future. The key is to balance automation, governance, and flexibility to create a sustainable and scalable GRC model.
How is your organization adapting to the future of GRC? Are you moving towards AI GRC, Integrated GRC, or Agile GRC? Let’s discuss in the comments!
Stay Ahead with MetricStream ConnectedGRC
MetricStream’s ConnectedGRC, including our BusinessGRC, CyberGRC, and ESGRC product lines, offer a comprehensive, scalable solution for streamlining and automating GRC programs. Organizations can integrate insights from risk, compliance, audit, and third-party management functions into a single pane of glass to facilitate quicker and better decision-making, helping your organization:
- Build an agile and adaptable GRC strategy using a collaborative and intuitive platform
- Leverage AI-powered workflows for predictive, data-driven decision-making
- Efficiently identify, assess, monitor, and mitigate enterprise and operational risks
- Safeguard your organization against IT and cyber threats with industry-recognized practices and frameworks
- Enhance operational resilience to prevent, respond to, and recover from business disruptions more effectively
- Simplify multi-regulatory compliance with a cohesive and integrated approach
- Detect regulatory changes in real-time and streamline the management of compliance updates
- Boost GRC performance with MetricStream AiSPIRE, offering cognitive insights to enhance existing programs through actionable data
Want to learn more? Request a personalized demo now.
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Health Leaders: Greater Collaboration Can Help Prevent Future Cyberattacks
- GRC
- 19 February 25
4 min read
Introduction
MetricStream’s CEO and Co-Founder, Gaurav Kapoor, shared his insights on Health Care Business Today explaining the need for healthcare leaders to prioritize cybersecurity and collaboration to protect patient data.
This was initially published by Health Care Business Today and to read the full article, click here.
With lives on the line, data breach and risk events in healthcare are especially critical.
2024 marked the largest ever healthcare data breach in the U.S. and over 300 additional breaches have been reported within the industry.
Despite being one of the most heavily regulated sectors, the healthcare industry continues to be one of the biggest targets for cyber criminals and hackers. What’s more concerning: their skills will only continue to get better.
Healthcare leaders are advised to continue to focus on cybersecurity in 2025 and push for industry-wide collaboration to address the ongoing threat of cyberattacks. By prioritizing fundamental cyber hygiene steps to prevent and address threats, healthcare companies can shore up their vulnerabilities and work together to protect patient data.
Healthcare’s major vulnerabilities
With a rich ecosystem of confidential, personal patient data, health systems are a high-value, low-hanging fruit for hackers looking to extract a ransom, sell to the dark web, or cause chaos.
Though there has been positive rapid digitalization in the healthcare sector, especially since the COVID pandemic, many organizations still rely on legacy technology.
As a first step, basic cyber hygiene practices like upgrading software, updating passwords frequently, using multifactor authentication, and conducting regular employee training can address easily preventable vulnerabilities and thwart lurking insider employee risks.
Health leaders need to focus deeper on two key areas of vulnerability: data security and third-party risks.
Though leaders are aware of the importance of protecting patient data through existing regulations like HIPAA, another component of maintaining data security is ensuring that data sharing is seamless and secure. Organizations must ensure their EHR platforms and related digital systems are regularly updated and follow the most current compliance standards for data storage and sharing. Data encryption is advised to protect healthcare records, regardless of whether those records are being stored or actively shared.
Third party risks pose an enormous threat to health systems due to the sheer number of third-party partners and suppliers that connect into the system: everything from billing services to cloud providers to internet-enabled medical devices represent third party risks. It only takes one of these systems to be compromised to impact the entire health system. It is imperative for healthcare organizations to actively, continuously monitor their third-party partners and conduct comprehensive and periodic audits to ensure ongoing compliance.
Industrywide collaboration is one necessary part of the solution
Today, comprehensive risk management encompasses prevention and resilience: to prevent risks from happening and reacting quickly when a risk event does happen while maintaining business continuity.
Many organizations, especially in healthcare, only focus on the former. In such a regulated industry, compliance can become a box-checking measure. But managing risk is proactive: leaders must go a step further to prepare for future risk and plan for when a risk event occurs.
Health leaders should consider taking a page from another highly regulated, high data volume industry – the banking and financial services industry – when strategizing how to proactively protect against risks.
Banks work together as an industry to disclose risk events, share strategies, and learn from others’ experiences to strengthen their risk programs The FDIC requires this practice as banks are so highly interconnected, having learned the dangers of systemic risk from past non-cyber events like the 2008 housing crisis or the banking crisis of 2023. These events highlighted the need for prevention and resilience, as well as the need for systematic disclosure of breaches.
Similarly, this year’s health breaches showcased just how interconnected health systems are – and how vulnerable they can be if breached. A breach from a third-party partner can disrupt payments, health equipment, ambulance services, and life-saving processes that are not only costly to set right but have devastating consequences on healthcare outcomes.
As health leaders continue to advance the interoperability and digitalization of healthcare systems, they also need to collectively prioritize cybersecurity, data safety, and third-party risk management practices. Strategies for managing risk should be proactive in nature, interconnected across the health system, and continuously enforced not just within the organization but also with third-party partners.
Cyberattacks impact the entire healthcare system – not only for the affected organization but also for the ripple effects that impact the rest of the ecosystem. Healthcare organizations carry a mission to protect their patients, so they owe it to those patients to work together and learn from each other’s best practices for protecting valuable patient data and instilling an industry-wide culture of risk awareness.
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Resilient by Design: The Art and Science of Managing Interconnected Risks with a Connected Approach
- GRC
- 12 February 25
6 min read
Introduction
Most organizations today are looking to improve their risk management strategies to be able to keep pace with the rapidly evolving risk landscape. We now know that for a risk management program to be successful and effective, it requires participation from functions all across the organization.
But what does it take to build a risk-aware and resilient organizational culture; how can organizations address the challenges posed by interconnected risks, and how can they build an integrated and unified risk management strategy? These were the questions that a panel of GRC experts sought to address at a panel discussion on Building a Culture of High Performance and Integrity: The Crucial Role of Integrated Risk, Compliance, and Audit by Design, at our recent GRC Summit.
The panel had a diverse panelists- from second and third line of defence to technology enabler:
- Claudia Iacobucci, Head of Assurance, Risk and Controls, ABB
- Somkant Mishra, Senior GRC Manager, CRH
- Bilal Javed Mahmood, Senior Director Risk Management, Hitachi Rail
- Bhaskar Dasari, CEO, Vivid Edge Corp
Here are the key takeaways from the interesting session.
Watch the video: Building a Culture of High Performance and Integrity: The Crucial Role of Integrated Risk, Compliance, and Audit by Design
Building a Resilient Risk Management Framework
To be effective, risk management plans must be aligned with the organization’s business objectives as well as strategic priorities. This means that risks must be identified, evaluated, and their potential impact effectively communicated. At the heart of organizational risk management strategy is a resilient risk framework that combines enterprise risk management with resilience planning to focus on not just risk assessment but also risk resilience:
- Standardized methodologies and centralized platforms for risk data aggregation are critical.
- This should include a unified risk universe that:
- Is central repository to store risks and controls
- Establishes common taxonomy and reporting structures
- Includes data models and governance structures
- Automated systems for risk identification can significantly reduce errors and improve response time while maintaining data consistency.
- Compliance can be integrated into the risk management strategy to identify and address cross-functional risks effectively.
- The risk and resilience management effort must also include regular reviews of emerging risks to identify and address them.
Cross-Functional Collaboration for Integrated Risk Management
Risk Management vs. Compliance and Audit: As organizations focus on integrated risk management strategies, they must consider cross-functional collaborative approaches that involve key stakeholders. The first step towards this lies in awareness of the nature of risks and how risk management differs from compliance and audit processes:
- Risk is nebulous, and risk management operates in uncertainty in an environment that is fluid and where outcomes and priorities can change quickly.
- Risk management must be constantly engaged and assess how external factors, ranging from regulatory change to political upheavals, can impact business decisions and strategies.
- Compliance and audit on the other hand, are structured processes that operate within defined boundaries.
- For example, the US election results may not have an immediate impact on regulations, and compliance teams may not need to take immediate action, but risk management teams must anticipate and prepare for the impact of the election results on geopolitical landscapes, policies, and strategic direction.
The onus is on the risk management teams to communicate with compliance and internal audit functions on how risk operates differently and needs dynamic management approaches. The risk team must drive the collaborative integrated risk management process, and communicate emerging risks in clear, actionable terms. This will help compliance and audit align their efforts with the more significant risk management objectives and ensure that all functions understand their separate but interconnected roles. Research and data-based tools like competitor analysis, annual reports, and industry trend studies can help provide a context for teams and uncover unique risks and opportunities.
Structured cross-functional engagement and collaboration: A comprehensive enterprise-wide risk management and resilience strategy can only work if every key member across diverse teams is on board with the strategy:
- Varied priorities must be addressed with a unified and shared GRC ecosystem that respects team boundaries and autonomy and facilitates collaboration, customization, and flexibility.
- Shared KPIs can motivate teams. However, this is only a temporary measure, and the long-term focus must remain on establishing clear objectives and key results to ensure successful collaboration.
- RACI models and compliance structures can help guide discussions and process alignment efforts.
- Engaging teams to solve challenges or risk-based puzzles can be a simple but effective way to secure participation. For example, diverse teams can come together to assess the possible impact of AI risks and even suggest mitigation strategies. This not only helps them think beyond their roles, but also gets them actively involved in the risk management process. It also facilitates the sharing of diverse perspectives and ideas.
Simplified, Intuitive, and User-Friendly Systems: Key to Successful Integrated Risk Management
Collaborative effort on integrated risk management must be simple:
- Systems and processes must be built with the end user in mind, particularly the front line that will interact with the systems.
- Overly complicated or technical processes and systems will prove counter-productive in the long run as people on the ground may lack the technical expertise or specialized skillsets to use them correctly.
- For example, if a facility manager has to execute complex controls, they are likely to do the bare minimum, leading to non-compliance, lack of data, and system failure.
- Collaboration is also not a one-time effort but an iterative one that must comprise small, deliberate steps.
- For example, an organization can begin the process with functions that apply to all departments, like policy and document management systems. Once these are addressed, they can move on to more complex areas like internal audit.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementation
Collaborative GRC implementation must follow a structured methodology to be successful:
- Listen to the organization’s requirements and needs and understand their vision and objectives for the GRC program as well as overall business goals.
- Educate them on how to best leverage existing investments – technology and tools – for maximum value.
- Collaboratively plan by listening to all stakeholders. This fosters a feeling of ownership and involvement.
Leadership Support and Direction
Effective collaboration in GRC requires strong leadership commitment and executive sponsorship. CXOs must take the lead in championing GRC initiatives to ensure consistency, alignment, and long-term success. Key leadership actions include:
- Championing Collaboration – CXOs must actively promote GRC collaboration and drive its adoption across the organization.
- Ensuring Strategic Alignment – Leadership involvement ensures that GRC efforts align with business objectives and long-term strategies.
- Optimizing Resource Allocation – Executive support secures the necessary resources for implementing risk management and compliance initiatives.
- Driving Momentum – Leadership commitment sustains engagement and accountability in executing GRC strategies.
- Linking Risks to Business Outcomes – Clearly connecting risks to organizational objectives helps secure leadership buy-in for an integrated GRC approach.
- Directing Resources to Critical Risks – Leaders must ensure that the right resources are allocated to address the most pressing risks effectively.
- A robust, resilient, and integrated risk management program is an iterative process that takes time, leadership vision, and cross-functional collaboration to develop and implement. Risk awareness and management in this challenging environment can no longer remain the sole purview of the risk and compliance department and must be embedded into every level and hierarchy of the organization. By strategically integrating risk management, compliance, and audit by design, organizations can create robust frameworks that drive accountability, operational resilience, and risk mitigation.
Interested to watch the entire session? Watch the video
Liked this recap? It’s just a glimpse of the many discussions featured at MetricStream’s biggest event, the GRC Summit. The GRC Summit has been a key platform for the GRC community to come together, share knowledge, exchange best practices, and explore what's on the horizon for GRC. Whether it's new technologies, evolving processes, or upcoming regulations that could reshape your business, you’ll discover it all at this event.
Register now for the next GRC Summit in London on June 10th-12th, 2025.
Our ConnectedGRC product streamlines governance, risk, and compliance processes by integrating real-time data. It provides a centralized platform for managing risks, ensuring compliance, and driving business resilience across the organization.
To learn more about how MetricStream can help with ConnectedGRC and an effective Enterprise Risk Management strategy, request a personalized demo today!
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Power Reads For GRC Professionals: Top Blogs, eBooks and Webinars
- GRC
- 06 February 25
7 min read
Introduction
As organizations navigate an increasingly complex risk and compliance landscape, staying ahead of the latest insights is more critical than ever. Over the past year, our community has engaged with a wealth of thought leadership—from insightful blogs and eBooks to impactful webinars. In this roundup, we’re spotlighting the most-read and most-watched resources that resonated with governance, risk and compliance (GRC) professionals worldwide. Whether you’re looking to strengthen your risk management strategies, enhance compliance frameworks, or explore emerging trends in cyber and IT risk management, these standout reads are packed with valuable takeaways you won’t want to miss.
Must-Read Blogs
Check out the blogs that have highlighted timely trends in risk and compliance from evolving regulatory mandates to emerging threats like cyber risk and third-party vulnerabilities along with providing actionable insights and expert perspectives.
Are Risk Heatmaps Really Dead? What’s Next?
While heatmaps have been popular for visually representing risks based on their probability and impact, their oversimplification and inability to capture complex, interconnected risks in modern organizations have made them less effective. This blog explores the reason why risk heatmaps must be modernized and combined with other tools—like risk registers, quantitative assessments, and scenario testing—to provide a more nuanced, dynamic approach to enterprise risk management.
Update on the SEC’s New Cybersecurity Rules: Insights and Outlook
Since the SEC's cybersecurity disclosure rules were finalized in July 2023, companies have been navigating new reporting requirements for incident and risk disclosures. While some organizations have voluntarily filed disclosures, the process of defining materiality for cybersecurity events has posed challenges. This blog discussed how companies must balance the need for compliance with the risk of over-disclosure, which could expose vulnerabilities.
Changing Face of Cyber and IT Compliance Calls for Automated Compliance
The rise in cyberattacks and data breaches has made regulatory compliance a complex and urgent task for organizations. New regulations, like the SEC’s cybersecurity rules and the EU's DORA, are driving increased scrutiny on IT security and data privacy, with penalties for non-compliance growing. This blog focuses on how automated compliance solutions, like MetricStream CyberGRC, are key to helping organizations efficiently manage this evolving landscape, by streamlining processes, and reducing the risk of penalties.
DORA Compliance Guide: The Road to Building Digital Operational Resilience
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a key EU regulation set to enhance the operational resilience of financial organizations by focusing on ICT risk management, incident classification, third-party risk, and operational testing. With DORA now live as on 17 January 2025, organizations must plan next steps to align their risk management frameworks to meet these comprehensive requirements.
The Case for an Integrated Approach to GRC in the Modern Enterprise
This blog emphasizes the importance of integrating GRC functions to improve decision-making and operational efficiency. By breaking down silos, organizations can gain real-time visibility, enhance collaboration, and predict risks more accurately.
Excited to read our other blogs? Access all of our blogs here!
eBooks Packed with Insight
Equip yourself with the knowledge needed to thrive in an increasingly complex landscape and stay ahead of the curve. These highly relevant titles address the pressing challenges and trends shaping the future of GRC by covering topics such as GRC trends, the role of AI in compliance, and strategies for enhancing compliance resilience.
In an era marked by rapid regulatory changes, AI has revolutionized GRC by offering in depth analysis, improving efficiency, and bolstering risk management. This eBook provides invaluable insights into maximizing AI benefits for GRC and managing AI-associated risks and serves as a crucial resource for those looking to enhance their GRC strategies with AI while maintaining compliance.
GRC Forecast for 2025: 7 Must-Know Trends
The GRC Forecast for 2025 outlines the seven key GRC trends shaping the future, identifies challenges and opportunities, and offers strategies for compliance with evolving regulatory frameworks, especially in AI governance. It provides valuable insights into risk management and operational effectiveness, which will help organizations navigate the complexities of 2025 proactively.
10 Cyber GRC Trends to Watch in 2025
This essential eBook is for anyone involved in cybersecurity, risk management, and compliance within organizations, especially in light of the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks. It offers critical insights that can help professionals navigate the evolving cyber landscape effectively with actionable steps to strengthen cyber risk and compliance efforts.
Cyber Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Model
The Cyber Governance, Risk, and Compliance Model is a comprehensive framework by MetricStream, to help address the growing challenges of cyber threats and regulatory demands. Developed in collaboration with a select group of our customers from across industries, it outlines a best-practice cyber metrics framework to boost organizational resilience and compliance.
5 Transformative Strategies for a Modern Compliance Function
The eBook brings to the forefront the evolving compliance priorities that Governance, Risk, and Compliance professionals navigate in today's fast-changing regulatory landscape. It offers CCOs actionable strategies to enhance the resilience and future readiness of compliance initiatives.
Compliance Resilience: Managing Compliance in Highly Regulated Industries
This eBook provides practical guidance for mastering compliance in banking, financial services, energy, and healthcare industries, and is a useful resource to help organizations effectively respond to regulatory changes and emerging risks. The takeaways inside are vital for maintaining compliance and ensuring sustainable business practices in a complex environment.
Interested to discover more eBooks on GRC? Access all eBooks here.
Webinars That Redefined GRC Thought Leadership
Our monthly webinars hosted analysts, experts, thought leaders, and GRC professionals from diverse industries resulting in interesting discussions, best practices and valuable insights. The recordings are available for you to watch. Click on the links to access the recordings.
Cyber Compliance and Resilience: From DORA to NIST & Beyond
In today’s evolving cyber risk landscape, two themes are at the forefront—regulations and resilience. Dorian J. Cougias, Lead Analyst and Co-founder, Unified Compliance Framework (UCF) and I had an interesting conversation on how strong controls and governance are key to cyber resilience regulations like DORA, ensuring compliance through harmonization, metrics, and system continuity. A common controls framework enhances consistency, while rigorous implementation, testing, and monitoring strengthens overall cyber protection.
Looking Forward to 2025: Strategies for Modern GRC in the New Year
In this webinar, GRC Pundit Michael Rasmussen of GRC 20/20 and I had a lively discussion where we examined key trends, opportunities, and risk resolutions for 2025. We covered what remained relevant in risk as 2025 began—and what needed an update along with top trends in operational, enterprise, cyber, compliance, audit, and interconnected risk management.
Compliance Automation: A Must-Have for Modern Compliance
As regulatory demands grow more complex, compliance automation has become essential for modern businesses to streamline processes, reduce risks, and enhance efficiency. Sumith Sagar, Associate Director, Product Marketing, MetricStream, and I discussed the role of automation and analytics in modern compliance along with proactive compliance strategies for implementing a positive compliance culture.
Navigating NIS2: How to Mitigate Cyber Risk, Ensure Compliance & Resilience
The EU Network and Information Systems Directive (NIS2) alongside other cyber risk-focused regulations, such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Critical Entities Resilience Directive (CER), demonstrates the increased attention paid to enhancing digital resilience and navigating constantly changing risk environments. In this webinar, experts from Deloitte and MetricStream provided essential guidance and practical insights on how companies can identify, assess, and mitigate cyber risks effectively to protect their operations.
Mastering GRC Implementation: Proven Strategies for Success
Whether you're in the initial stages of your GRC journey or seeking to optimize existing frameworks, your organization needs actionable strategies to ensure a smooth and effective GRC implementation. In this webinar, Somkant Mishra, Senior GRC Manager, CRH and along with MetricStream GRC experts shared expert knowledge on implementing GRC frameworks that align with business goals and regulatory demands.
Find out more about the other webinars we hosted. Watch the recordings here!
Ensure GRC Efficiency and Effectiveness with MetricStream
MetricStream's and ConnectedGRC—along with the three product lines BusinessGRC, CyberGRC and ESGRC--empowers you to manage all your GRC needs on a single, integrated platform. From enterprise and operational risk management to compliance, audits, third-party governance, cyber risk management, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance), our solutions streamline your processes and provides a unified view of risk and compliance.
With ConnectedGRC, you can:
- Gain a comprehensive view of risks across your enterprise and third-party network
- Minimize regulatory risks with structured compliance assessments, continuous control monitoring, and regulatory change management tools
- Enhance governance through robust policy and procedure management solutions
- Leverage AI and advanced analytics for timely risk and compliance insights
- Align GRC strategies with industry standards, best practices, and frameworks
Discover how MetricStream can accelerate your GRC journey—request a personalized demo today!
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Strengthening the First Line of Defense with People, Processes, and Technology
- GRC
- 29 January 25
5 min read
Introduction
In the latest edition on techgraph!, MetricStream's Managing Director, Shankar Bhaskaran, delves into the three lines of defense (3LOD) model drawing upon his extensive knowledge and firsthand experiences.
This was initially published by techgraph! and to read the full article, click here.
Globally and across industries, the risk landscape is growing more volatile and complex, with risks becoming increasingly interconnected and unpredictable. Increasing cyber-attacks, geopolitical tensions, AI governance, and regulatory shifts have made operational resilience a key priority.
A recent report titled The India Cyber Threat Report by the Data Security Council of India, which studied over 18 industries, has specifically raised serious concerns about the increasing vulnerability of the finance and healthcare sectors to cyberattacks. At this time, a robust and adaptable risk management framework is imperative for organizations in these sectors.
The three lines of defense (3LOD) model is a cornerstone of strong operational risk management strategies. This framework establishes clear roles and responsibilities for managing risk across an organization’s three distinct yet interlinked functions.
Among these, the first line of defense stands out as the mainstay of the 3LOD framework, representing the point where risks emerge and require immediate action. This article examines how organizations can strengthen this critical function by integrating people, processes, and technology.
Understanding First Line of Defense
The first line of defense, a.k.a frontline, is often called the “eyes and ears” of the business. At the forefront of an organization’s risk posture, these teams are the first to encounter risks and are uniquely positioned to identify and address them as they arise. Beyond detection, they hold important insights into the risks.
However, the effectiveness of the first line is contingent upon its ability to identify, assess, and mitigate risks efficiently. Organizations must ensure that their frontline teams are adequately empowered with the tools, training, and support they need to fulfil their critical role in safeguarding the enterprise.
The Human Factor in Risk Mitigation
Employees are critical in identifying, managing, and escalating real-time risks. Their ability to detect emerging threats early can significantly strengthen the organization’s overall risk posture. A nurse at a hospital, a teller at the bank, or a customer services executive at a telecom retail outlet are all examples of frontline workers who hold critical intelligence as they go about their daily operations.
Their job roles involve engaging with external stakeholders, customers, and partners. Being the first to hold these interactions, they hold the unique position of being valuable sources of risk-related information for the company.
For example, a single suspicious transaction report (STR) filed by a frontline bank executive can actively stop the flow of illegal money and the associated financial crime. Training and awareness programs are essential for them to leverage this potential fully. These initiatives empower employees to recognize risks, follow clear escalation protocols, and take decisive action when needed.
Beyond training, creating a risk-conscious culture is also key. While technology and processes support risk management, human intuition and judgment remain irreplaceable. Employees bring context and adaptability to complex scenarios, enabling real-time responses. By empowering them through training, awareness, and a supportive culture, organizations can transform their workforce into vigilant risk managers, fortifying their first line of defense.
Leveraging Technology to Strengthen the First Line of Defense
The first line of defense isn’t just about having the right people in the frontlines. It is also about equipping them with the right tools and technology.
Modern technology platforms can bridge gaps and break down silos while bringing a smooth data flow and better collaboration across the lines of defense. Risk leaders understand this, with 57% considering investing in new technology for their risk teams as among their top three priorities. With the right technology, the first line becomes more efficient, proactive, and empowered to manage risks effectively.
Among such robust tech tools are AI-powered observation management solutions that streamline the risk management process. For example, observation management software enables business users to easily capture and report anomalies and risks, providing a simple, intuitive interface to track potential threats. This capability is further enhanced through various functionalities such as widgets, chatbots, browser plugins, and web forms, making it easy for employees to flag risks and deviations in real time.
By automating the triaging and classification of observations, AI and machine learning (ML) help improve efficiency. With AI-powered intelligent triage, risks can be classified as incidents, issues, or loss events and automatically routed for review, approval or resolution (as the case be). This leads to a 60% reduction in the time to create and review issue impacts and a 40% reduction in cycle time to close issues.
AI-driven real-time issue tracking in the observation management software also ensures that risks are quickly identified and prioritized for remediation. The technology can intelligently correlate similar problems and findings and then recommend actionable plans based on their business criticality. This structured remediation process helps organizations address risks more effectively by identifying and mitigating high-priority issues before they escalate.
Another software highlight is its graphical dashboards and flexible reports that give organizations real-time visibility into critical observations and issues and help them respond faster to emerging risks. These visual tools allow teams to drill into detailed data, identifying key risks and tracking their resolution.
With such advanced visibility, businesses can ensure that risks are managed efficiently across the organization.
Continuous Employee Training And Enablement Programs
While investing in technology is important, ongoing employee enablement is a crucial step in ensuring the first line of defense remains effective.
This needs to be achieved through targeted training programs that equip employees with the skills to identify and address emerging risks. Scenario-based learning enhances this by immersing employees in realistic risk situations, helping them respond proactively in real-time. Regular assessments ensure employees stay updated on risk management best practices and can reinforce their knowledge to act confidently when facing potential threats.
By continuously developing frontline capabilities, organizations can strengthen their risk resilience and create a culture of vigilance and accountability.
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Transforming Policy and Document Management with Generative AI
- Audit Management
- 15 January 25
5 min read
Oerview
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are rapidly transforming the landscape for risk and compliance professionals worldwide. According to a recent survey conducted by Moody’s, involving 550 global risk and compliance experts, 70% of respondents anticipate that AI will have a significant impact on the field within the next three years. Moreover, nearly 90% expressed a strong interest in integrating AI tools into risk and compliance solutions. Among the key applications, Generative AI (Gen AI) stands out as a transformative force in the field of Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), particularly in policy and document management, offering the potential to streamline processes and enhance efficiency.
Policy creation in GRC is crucial for ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and mitigating risks. It establishes a structured framework for governance, aligning organizational processes with industry standards while fostering accountability and transparency. Clear policies define roles, responsibilities, and acceptable practices, helping organizations address vulnerabilities and safeguard against legal, financial, and reputational risks. Additionally, well-crafted policies enhance audit readiness, support continuous improvement, and strengthen overall organizational resilience. AI can further enhance the role of policy management across the organization.
By infusing AI in policy management such as content drafting, grammar optimization, smart policy searches and predictive text suggestions, Gen AI streamlines these tasks by analyzing regulations, generating standardized templates, harmonizing stakeholder inputs, ensuring precise language, and tailoring policies to industry and regional needs. It also assists with cross-referencing existing policies, tracking changes, and enhancing audit readiness, saving time while boosting accuracy and scalability in policy creation. Let’s delve into how Gen AI is shaping the future of Policy and Document Management.
Document Drafting: Simplifying the Writing Process
The initial stages of document creation often pose the biggest challenges. Starting from scratch requires significant time, effort, and expertise. Gen AI’s “Help me write” feature is designed to overcome this hurdle by assisting users in generating content quickly and efficiently.
Here’s how it works:
- Content Generation: Based on the input or prompts provided, Gen AI can draft sections or even complete documents, saving valuable time and reducing cognitive load.
- Contextual Suggestions: Whether writing corporate policies or internal guidelines, the AI adapts its suggestions to match the document’s tone and purpose.
- Efficiency Boost: By eliminating the need for manual sentence construction, writers can focus on fine-tuning the content instead of creating it from scratch.
Grammar and Smart Compose: Accelerating Content Creation
- Error Elimination: AI-driven tools identify and correct grammatical mistakes, typos, and punctuation errors, ensuring an error-free document.
- Enhanced Readability: By offering suggestions for sentence restructuring and vocabulary improvement, the tool ensures that the content is clear and concise.
- Consistency in Tone: Whether drafting a legal agreement or a casual memo, the AI ensures that the tone remains consistent throughout the document.
- Time Efficiency: Real-time feedback reduces the need for multiple manual reviews, accelerating the editing process.
- Speed: Users can complete repetitive sections of documents, such as disclaimers, standard clauses, or policy templates, in a fraction of the time.
- Customization: Over time, the AI learns user preferences, offering tailored suggestions that align with previous writing styles.
- Flow Maintenance: By providing a seamless writing experience, Smart Compose helps users overcome writer’s block and maintain momentum.
Gen AI in Policy Updates
- Regulatory Analysis and Summarization: Gen AI quickly analyzes updated regulations, providing concise summaries and highlighting key changes relevant to the organization which can be incorporated into Policies.
- Policy Integration: Detected changes can be mapped directly to relevant sections of internal policies, highlighting areas that need revision.
- Non-Compliance Alerts: The system can flag non-compliant sections in existing documents, providing actionable insights for remediation.
- Version Control: Automated updates ensure that the latest policy versions are readily accessible, reducing confusion and enhancing accountability.
- Streamlined Stakeholder Collaboration: By combining inputs and creating draft updates, Gen AI speeds up the review process and helps get approvals faster.
AI-Driven Policy Summarization
When multiple users contribute to a policy, generative AI can automatically summarize the content, ensuring clarity and coherence. It identifies key points, eliminates redundancies, and highlights critical changes, creating a concise overview of the policy. This helps streamline collaboration, improve version control, and provide a unified understanding of the policy's current state for all stakeholders.
Conclusion
Generative AI is revolutionizing policy and document management by making it more efficient, accurate, and adaptable. From simplifying the drafting process to ensuring compliance with evolving regulations, these tools are invaluable for organizations aiming to maintain high standards and productivity. By leveraging AI-driven solutions, companies can not only enhance the quality of their documentation but also foster a culture of innovation and agility. As this technology evolves, its potential to transform workflows and empower users will continue to grow, making it an indispensable part of modern document management strategies
Simplify Policy and Document Management with MetricStream
MetricStream offers a robust policy and document management solution that integrates cutting-edge AI capabilities to enhance efficiency, compliance, and collaboration for effective policy management. Transform your approach to policy and document management with:
- Centralized Repository: Securely store and access all policies and documents in a centralized location, ensuring version control and reducing the risk of outdated information.
- Seamless Policy Mapping: Map policies to regulations, risks, controls, requirements, and processes, linking specific sections to applicable compliance mandates while triggering automated email notifications and alerts to keep stakeholders informed of policy changes in real-time.
- Smart Policy Discovery and Search: Effortlessly find policies relevant to you anytime, anywhere, using NLP-powered smart search widgets integrated into your intranet, chatbot, or workplace tools, providing quick access to policy details, related risks, and compliance insights.
- Collaboration Tools: Simplify stakeholder collaboration with integrated workflows that streamline review, feedback, and approval processes.
- Audit Readiness: Ensure policies are audit-ready with built-in tracking, automated logs, and compliance reports.
- Customizable Templates: Use pre-built templates tailored to your industry or organization’s specific needs, saving time and enhancing accuracy.
Request a demo now and find out how MetricStream’s Policy and Document Management solution, can transform your approach to GRC, ensuring resilience and agility in today’s complex regulatory landscape.
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The Road Ahead: Key GRC Trends Shaping 2025
- GRC
- 08 January 25
6 min read
Introduction
2024 was marked by escalating risks on multiple fronts, rapidly evolving regulations, and increasing cost of cyber-attacks. There was a 75% increase in cyber attacks by the 3rd quarter of 2024 with the average cost of data breach reaching USD 4.5 million.
Risks were not limited to just cybersecurity threats and bad actors. Geopolitical tensions and wars around the world led to disruptions like the Houthi attacks on critical shipping routes, impacting supply chains and global trade. And the escalating climate crisis added to the risks facing the world with insured losses from natural disasters exceeding USD 135 billon this year, which also went down as the hottest year in recorded history. AI proved to be a double-edged sword – powering new strategies and unlocking business transformation on one hand and introducing new risks and empowering bad actors to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks on the other. Amidst this, regulators continued to introduce new rules and modify existing ones to meet emerging challenges. This added to organizations’ governance, risk and compliance (GRC) challenges.
As we step into 2025, it is important to understand the trends shaping the risk landscape, so that you can craft your risk and compliance agenda to effectively mitigate the risks and cash in on the opportunities.
Key Trends Shaping GRC in 2025
Resilience in the Spotlight: Operational resilience has been a key focus area for regulators and organizations alike. But 2024 saw heightened scrutiny and attention on cyber and operational resilience as the risk landscape grew in severity. Extreme climate events, geopolitical tensions and IT outages caused serious disruption across sectors and geographies and as a result, regulators and organizations want to ensure resilience against such incidents and aid quick recovery.
Most recent regulations focused strongly on resilience –
- EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
- EU’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)
- UK's operational resilience policies issued by the Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority
- The US SEC cybersecurity rules stressed on greater accountability and transparency around cyber incidents
- The interagency paper on ‘Sound Practices to Strengthen Operational Resilience’ by the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
- Singapore’s operational resilience guidelines
- Hong Kong’s Supervisory Policy Manual on Operational Resilience
- Canada’s Guideline E-21 on operational risk and resilience
In 2025, organizations will need to increase their focus on robust operational as well as cyber resilience approaches.
The AI Era Takes Shape: AI came of age in 2024 with most organizations benefitting from the productivity and efficiency gains the technology offered-
- 34 percent of organizations reported significant improvements in productivity and efficiency by leveraging AI
- 67 percent said they would increase investments in AI because of the value delivered. AI also holds tremendous promise for improving GRC processes.
AI is transforming the pace and face of business operations, enabling real-time data analysis, automating repetitive tasks, and driving predictive insights that enhance decision-making. However, this rapid advancement also introduces new risks like data breaches, algorithmic bias, and regulatory non-compliance. Robust governance and compliance frameworks are essential to mitigate these threats, ensuring businesses harness AI's potential responsibly while staying resilient in an evolving landscape. Security protocols must be revised for the AI era. Regulations like the EU’s AI Act aim to provide a foundation for ethical and risk aware use of AI and the coming years will see more regulatory action on this front. Organizations must establish robust AI governance processes to ethically and securely use AI for business transformation even as they comply with emerging regulations.
Third-Party Risks on the Rise – Some of the largest data breaches and disruptions over the last year were caused by vulnerabilities within third-party systems
- The major breaches at American Express and Fidelity Investments were the result of attacks on third party systems.
- A faulty software update at CrowdStrike disrupted flights, shutdown stock markets and banks, and even impacted healthcare systems.
Most modern organizations work within a large ecosystem of vendors and partners. And it is now abundantly clear that a vulnerability anywhere within this ecosystem can have far reading impact and consequences. New regulations emphasizing third-party risk management, include EU’s DORA, the updated Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) and US SEC’s Regulation S-P.
But given the complexity of corporate ecosystems this may be easier said than done. Organizations will now need to consider integrated and automated approaches to third-party risk management with diverse teams across the organization collaborating on risk monitoring and reporting. They will also need to work out mechanisms for monitoring and ensuring third party compliance as any compliance lapses at any part of the supply chain can impact the organization as well.
Regulatory Change Gains Momentum- 2024 saw strong continued regulatory momentum with regulators focusing on resilience, AI, cyber risk and security, third party risks and ESG. This trend is likely to continue in 2025 with regulations around key areas such as Trusted AI and Systems, Cybersecurity/Information Protection, Financial and Operational Resiliency, Financial Crime, Markets and Competition and Risk Governance and Controls. In addition to DORA, CRA, the EU AI Act, organizations will have to be prepared for several new regulations including the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA), several US state laws on data privacy, the EU Cyber Solidarity Act, the revised EU Product Liability Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the EU Deforestation Regulation.
Keeping pace with this complex landscape is incredibly challenging and non-compliance will only result in heavy penalties and significant damage to reputation. Organizations will need AI powered, automated regulatory change management and compliance solutions to ensure error free compliance with evolving regulations.
Integrated GRC in Demand – Traditionally, GRC operated in silos with varied risk taxonomies, libraries and even disjointed solutions across the organization. This approach can no longer work today given the complex and interconnected risk landscape that modern organizations operate within. Most organizations are now moving to automated and integrated GRC strategies. This involves:
- Standardized and common taxonomies
- Streamlined workflows
- Clear visibility across all processes and controls across the organization
- Data integrated into a single source of truth allowing stakeholders to gain a comprehensive understanding of risks, interdependencies across the organization
With integrated GRC solutions in place, teams are better equipped to analyze and prioritize risks, evaluate business impact and mitigate them more efficiently. The move to integrated GRC solutions will continue to accelerate over the next year.
Stay Ahead in 2025 with MetricStream Connected GRC
MetricStream’s ConnectedGRC including our BusinessGRC, CyberGRC, and ESGRC product lines offer a comprehensive scalable solution for streamlining and automating GRC programs. Organizations can integrate insights from risk, compliance, audit, and third-party management functions into a single pane of glass to facilitate quicker and better decision-making, helping your organization:
- Build an agile and adaptable GRC strategy using a collaborative and intuitive platform.
- Leverage AI-powered workflows for predictive, data-driven decision-making.
- Efficiently identify, assess, monitor, and mitigate enterprise and operational risks.
- Safeguard your organization against IT and cyber threats with industry-recognized practices and frameworks.
- Enhance operational resilience to prevent, respond to, and recover from business disruptions more effectively.
- Simplify multi-regulatory compliance with a cohesive and integrated approach.
- Detect regulatory changes in real-time and streamline the management of compliance updates.
- Boost GRC performance with MetricStream AiSPIRE, offering cognitive insights to enhance existing programs through actionable data.
Want to learn more? Request a personalized demo now.
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Reflecting on 2024 through the lens of Governance, Risk, and Compliance
- GRC
- 20 December 24
5 min read
Introduction
...two themes have consistently dominated the conversation. The first is regulation-driven change, particularly implementing the EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Alongside this, the wider implications of operational resilience have come into sharper focus, leaving organisations grappling with how best to approach compliance. The second key theme has been artificial intelligence—not only as a tool for driving efficiency and enabling deeper and broader organisational insights but also as a driver of significant regulatory changes that are already beginning to take shape.
With DORA due to come into effect in a matter of weeks, it’s been eye-opening to see how many organisations remain unclear about their approach. Some are overwhelmed; others seem to have adopted a “bury your head in the sand” strategy. At a recent seminar I co-hosted, we asked the audience a seemingly straightforward question:
“Who owns operational resilience in your organisation?”
Not a single person could provide a consistent or definitive answer. This speaks volumes. Regulations like DORA, which are broad and touch multiple areas within an organisation, don’t fit neatly into existing silos. Instead, they highlight the need for custodianship of compliance—where responsibility isn’t ‘owned’ by one department but shared across multiple stakeholders.
That said, the allocation of this custodianship can vary greatly. For some, it falls to the IT team, given their focus on operational aspects—what I often refer to as operational compliance. For others, it sits within risk management. The reality is that there is no right or wrong answer. Organisations need to find the model that works for their unique structure and culture, which often involves trial and error. What is universal, however, is the need for people to work together. Regulations like DORA demand collaboration, compromise, and shared understanding—qualities that don’t always come naturally within organisations.
Whilst technology plays an ever-increasing role in governance, risk, and compliance, it’s important to remember that it is an enabler. No algorithm, no matter how advanced, has yet figured out how to truly bring people together, mediate their differences, or force collaboration. And when it finally does, there will undoubtedly be far more pressing applications waiting in line.
Continuing with the theme of technology, AI has undeniably been hailed as a game changer. While we have seen similar promises in the past with technologies such as blockchain—only to watch them fall short—AI genuinely feels different. Its practical applications are already evident in our personal and professional lives - yes, ChatGPT reviewed this article. In the world of GRC, AI is already making its mark, with significant innovation around its practical use.
There is no question that the volume of data being collected as part of risk and compliance programmes is growing at an exponential rate. But the real challenge is not just the sheer amount of data—it is also quality. This is where I believe AI will make its first major impact. By improving and then interpreting data, AI will empower organisations to dig deeper and expand their reach across the business, ultimately providing something tangible for risk committees, boards, investors, regulators, and auditors. Many GRC vendors have arguably been on this path for some time, innovating and developing with AI to deliver advancements that, while seemingly modest on the surface, often have a profound impact in practice—much like many things in life.
Where will this lead us? Much has been said about the transformative power of generative AI, but its true value in risk and compliance settings remains to be seen. Over the coming months and years, use cases will undoubtedly emerge or evolve. However, I believe those working in highly regulated industries, where human transparency is a non-negotiable requirement for regulators, can rest assured—they are unlikely to be replaced by machines anytime soon.
What is more certain is that compliance professionals will soon need to wrestle with regulation specifically for AI. Unsurprisingly, the European Union is leading the charge, with the EU AI Act coming into force on the 1st of August of this year and set to take effect from the 2nd of August 2026. Much like previous EU legislation, the Act has a far-reaching impact, applying to anyone deploying AI systems within the EU, regardless of their geographic location.
The EU AI Act is comprehensive and ambitious, adopting a risk-based approach to regulation. It addresses everything from banning the use of AI systems by governments to monitor citizens’ behaviour (classified as “Unacceptable Risk”) to measures affecting everyday encounters with AI-generated content (classified as “Minimal Risk”), such as requiring platforms to notify users when they are engaging with such material.
This landmark legislation continues the EU’s trajectory of digital regulation, which began in earnest with the introduction of GDPR and the more recent DORA. Human nature being what it is, some degree of procrastination and confusion is to be expected as organisations come to terms with its implications.
While enforcing ethical safeguards is both sensible and necessary, the challenges for organisations are clear. Determining ownership and accountability for compliance will once again take centre stage, starting with a thorough understanding of their exposure to AI technologies. Given the widespread reliance on outsourcing and third-party technology in today’s enterprises, the ripple effects will be significant. Vendors should anticipate a sharp increase in assessments and scrutiny over the coming years.
Although navigating these requirements may seem daunting and could lead to delays, organisations that take a proactive approach to planning and preparation will be far better positioned to stay ahead of the curve.
This, however, is all for next year, so wishing you joy, warmth, and happiness this festive season. Here’s to a bright and successful 2025!
This blog was initially featured as an article on LinkedIn, click here to read it.
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