We've talked about GRC architecture.

We've explored data layers.

We've discussed control orchestration.

But the success of these technical approaches hinges on something less tangible but equally critical: stakeholder relationships.

If we’re honest—the most brilliantly designed GRC program will fail spectacularly if your stakeholders view your team as obstacles rather than allies.

GRC Engineering’s biggest limitation?

Technical excellence means nothing without effective stakeholder buy-in.

Most GRC initiatives fail not because of inadequate frameworks or tools, but because of relationship breakdowns across organisational divides.

It's time to transform your stakeholders from compliance obstacles into security allies.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Another security questionnaire just dropped. Guess who’s doing it?

If it’s still you, we should talk. 🙃

Security reviews aren’t hard, you just get buried in busywork like juggling back and forth between teams, managing SMEs, chasing down answers.

Meet Sue, Conveyor’s AI Agent. 

She picks up requests, answers with 95%+ accuracy, handles follow-ups, and updates systems—so you don’t have to.

Why It Matters 🔍

The why: the core problem this solves and why you should care

Your GRC program's true effectiveness isn't measured by the comprehensiveness of your control documentation or the elegance of your risk framework. It's measured by your ability to drive actual security improvements through others.

This stark reality creates unique challenges:

• Engineering teams with sprint commitments view GRC as "work that slows down real work"

• Product managers see compliance as a blocker to market entry rather than a business enabler

• Security engineers question whether your requirements reflect real security or just documentation

• Leadership measures GRC success in costs and deadlines, not in security effectiveness

The result? A compliance program that exists in documentation but fails in implementation—the dangerous gap between security theatre and security reality.

When stakeholder relationships break down, you end up with:

• Controls that exist on paper but aren't consistently executed

• Evidence that looks good in audits but doesn't reflect actual practices

• Security improvements that never make it into sprint planning

• Compliance being viewed as an annual fire drill rather than ongoing practice

Creating strong stakeholder relationships isn't just about making your job easier—it's about ensuring your GRC program actually improves security.

# Typical stakeholder conversation
def traditional_grc_request():
    send_email("Please implement this control by Friday")
    wait(3_days)
    if no_response:
        escalate_to_manager()
        # Relationship damaged, compliance achieved
    return reluctant_compliance()

# What we need instead
def stakeholder_partnership():
    understand_their_constraints()
    align_with_their_objectives()
    integrate_into_their_workflows()
    demonstrate_value()
    return sustainable_security_improvement()

Strategic Framework 🧩

The what: The conceptual approach broken down into 3 main principles

Understand Their Metrics, Not Just Yours

Most GRC professionals measure success in framework coverage, finding closure, and audit results. Your stakeholders measure success differently:

• Engineering teams: Velocity, reliability, and innovation

• Product managers: Time-to-market and feature adoption

• Security engineers: Threat mitigation and vulnerability reduction

• Leadership: Revenue growth and operational efficiency

The key to building effective relationships is understanding these competing metrics and finding alignment points. When you can frame compliance requirements in terms of outcomes your stakeholders already care about, you transform the conversation from "you need to do this for compliance" to "this will help you achieve your goals while also satisfying compliance."

Translate Compliance into Their Language

Each stakeholder speaks a different technical and business language. Effective GRC professionals become multilingual:

• For engineers: Convert abstract requirements into specific technical configurations and code examples

• For product teams: Translate compliance into market advantages and customer trust builders

• For executives: Transform control metrics into business risk indicators and competitive positioning

This translation process isn't about simplifying—it's about contextualising. It requires a deep understanding of how different teams operate and what motivates their decisions.

Integrate Into Existing Workflows

The most successful GRC programs don't create parallel processes—they integrate into workflows that already exist:

• If developers live in GitLab/GitHub, your security requirements should exist in Markdown inside repositories, not PDFs in SharePoint

• If product teams plan in quarterly roadmaps, your compliance initiatives should align with these planning cycles

• If cloud teams use infrastructure-as-code, your controls should express inside their templates, not manual checklists

By embedding GRC into existing workflows rather than creating new ones, you reduce friction and increase adoption. The best compliance is the kind that happens naturally as part of normal operations.

Govern Your SDLC at Scale

Centralise artefacts, evidence, and policies in one secure, trusted storage where all data is connected in a graph, verifiable, and traceable. Connect Dev, Sec, and Ops via contracts for seamless collaboration and compliance enforcement.

Execution Blueprint 🛠️

The how: 3 practical steps to put this strategy into action at your organisation

Map Your Stakeholder Ecosystem

Before you can effectively engage stakeholders, you need to understand the complete landscape. Create a relationship map that identifies:

• Key decision-makers for each control domain

• Their primary motivations and objectives

• Current pain points in their GRC interactions

• Potential alignment opportunities between their goals and your requirements

Start by identifying your 3-5 most critical stakeholder relationships—the ones where improvements would create the biggest impact. For each, document their current perception of GRC (through informal conversations if possible) and specific ways your requirements impact their work.

This mapping exercise often reveals surprising insights about how different teams perceive compliance and where the biggest friction points exist.

Create Stakeholder-Specific Value Propositions

For each key stakeholder, develop a clear value proposition that answers one question: "What's in it for them?"

• For engineering leaders: How can GRC automation reduce manual effort for their teams?

• For product managers: How can compliance capabilities create competitive advantages?

• For security engineers: How can your framework simplify their existing security responsibilities?

The most effective value propositions focus on pain points you can alleviate rather than new requirements you're adding. When you position GRC as a solution to their existing challenges rather than a new burden, you transform the relationship dynamic.

Design Collaborative Rather Than Mandated Processes

Reimagine your GRC processes to incorporate stakeholder input from the beginning:

• Instead of unilateral control requirements, create collaborative working groups to develop controls that satisfy both security and operational needs

• Rather than annual assessments, implement continuous feedback loops that allow for adaptation and improvement

• Beyond documentation reviews, build joint working sessions where you solve compliance challenges together

When stakeholders help design compliance processes rather than just execute them, they develop ownership and investment in the outcomes.

Start simple: Identify one compliance process causing significant friction and invite the affected stakeholders to a redesign session. Focus on their pain points first, then work together to satisfy compliance requirements while addressing these challenges.

Remember: Strong stakeholder relationships aren't built on compliance mandates—they're built on mutual problem-solving and shared success.

Content Queue 📖

The learn: This week's resource to dive deeper on the topic

In this episode of the GRC Engineering Podcast, we discussed with Akhila Chitiprolu how to build bridges when working with external stakeholders.

She also mentions how she helped the platform engineering team defined their security roadmap through collaborative compliance efforts.

Definitely something that ties back to our conversation and accolade we should all strive to get!

That’s all for this week’s issue, folks!

If you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy:

• My spicier takes on LinkedIn [/in/ayoubfandi]

• Listening to the GRC Engineering Podcast 

  • Spotify

  • Youtube

  • Apple Podcasts

See you next week!