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⚙️ Selling GRC Engineering: From Vision to Executive Buy-In

How to Build the Business Case That Transforms GRC Engineering Skeptics into Automation Champions

Author

Ayoub Fandi
May 29, 2025

"We already have a GRC team. Why do we need engineers?"

This question reveals the fundamental misunderstanding that kills most GRC Engineering initiatives before they start. Leadership sees GRC Engineering as expensive technical overhead rather than strategic transformation.

The reality?

Your biggest obstacle isn't budget constraints or technical complexity.

It's positioning.

When you frame GRC Engineering as "adding developers to compliance," you've already lost.

When you position it as "transforming GRC from a cost centre into a competitive advantage", you get executive attention.

The key to selling GRC Engineering isn't explaining what it is—it's demonstrating what it delivers.

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Why It Matters 🔍

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

Traditional GRC teams are caught in an impossible bind: executives demand faster compliance cycles while auditors require deeper evidence quality. Meanwhile, engineering teams deploy changes daily while compliance operates on quarterly cycles.

This mismatch isn't sustainable.

Your GRC program faces three critical pressures that traditional approaches can't address:

Speed vs. Depth: Business demands faster time-to-market while regulations require more comprehensive controls. Traditional GRC creates a bottleneck that slows business without actually improving security.

Scale vs. Quality: As your organisation grows, manual GRC processes break down. You can either maintain quality and slow growth, or scale rapidly and accept compliance theatre.

Trust vs. Documentation: Customers increasingly demand real-time security verification, not annual certifications. Your traditional compliance artefacts can't demonstrate the continuous security assurance modern buyers expect.

# Traditional GRC ROI calculation
manual_process:
  cost: "$200k annually in FTE time"
  output: "Point-in-time compliance certificates"
  
# GRC Engineering ROI calculation  
engineered_process:
  investment: "$150k initial + $75k annually"
  output: "Continuous compliance + automated evidence"
  net_benefit: "3x ROI within 18 months"

Strategic Framework 🧩

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

Position as Product Strategy, Not Technical Implementation

The fatal mistake most GRC professionals make is leading with technical capabilities instead of business outcomes. Don't sell GRC Engineering—sell the problems it solves.

Your pitch should focus on:

  • Competitive differentiation through superior security demonstration

  • Revenue acceleration via faster, more credible compliance processes

  • Risk reduction through continuous rather than periodic verification

  • Operational efficiency that scales with business growth

When leadership understands that GRC Engineering transforms compliance from cost centre to competitive advantage, they stop viewing it as expense and start seeing it as investment.

Address Each Stakeholder's Core Concerns Directly

Different executives have different fears about GRC Engineering initiatives. Successful positioning addresses these concerns proactively rather than reactively.

Stakeholder

Primary Fear

Positioning Response

CISO

GRC Engineering will create technical debt and security blind spots while reducing strategic oversight

GRC Engineering provides continuous security posture monitoring instead of quarterly snapshots, giving you better strategic visibility

Head of GRC

Being marginalised as "non-technical" while developers take over compliance strategy and stakeholder relationships

GRC Engineering amplifies your domain expertise by automating manual tasks, freeing you to focus on risk strategy and executive communication

CFO

Large upfront investment in unproven technology that may not deliver measurable business value

Phased implementation with clear ROI metrics: 143% ROI in Year 1 through reduced FTE costs and faster compliance cycles

External Auditors

Automated evidence will reduce audit scope, fees, and the need for their specialised expertise

Automated evidence collection provides better audit trails and continuous monitoring enables deeper, more meaningful audit conversations

VP Engineering

GRC requirements will slow development velocity and create friction in deployment pipelines

GRC Engineering integrates with existing DevOps workflows rather than creating parallel processes, reducing compliance friction

The key is positioning GRC Engineering as an evolution, not a revolution. You're not replacing existing processes, you're just making them more effective.

Demonstrate Value Through Proof Points, Not Promises

Build your business case around:

  • Specific pain points your current GRC program creates

  • Measurable improvements GRC Engineering delivers

  • Comparable examples from similar organisations

  • Clear metrics that tie GRC improvements to business outcomes

The most compelling proof points come from demonstrating how other organisations have bridged technical and compliance domains to achieve both better security and faster business growth.

Strategic Pitch Framework

The 3-Slide Executive Summary

Slide 1: The Problem

  • Current GRC processes create business bottlenecks

  • Traditional compliance doesn't demonstrate real security

  • Manual evidence collection doesn't scale with growth

Slide 2: The Solution

  • GRC Engineering transforms compliance from documentation to demonstration

  • Automated evidence collection provides continuous rather than periodic assurance

  • Technical integration creates competitive differentiation

Slide 3: The Business Case

  • ROI analysis with conservative projections

  • Phased implementation minimises risk

  • Clear success metrics and milestones

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Execution Blueprint 🛠️

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

1. Build Your Business Case with Data-Driven Proof Points

Current State Analysis Template

Metric

Current State

Industry Benchmark

Gap

Time to SOC 2 readiness

X months

Y months

XX% slower

Evidence collection hours/quarter

XXX hours

XX hours

XXX% more manual effort

Control testing coverage

XX% of controls

XX% of controls

Significant coverage gap

Mean time to remediation

XX days

XX days

XXX% slower response

ROI Calculation Framework

Year 1 Investment: $XXX,000 (technical resources, integration, training)

Year 1 Benefits: $XXX,000 (time savings, revenue acceleration, audit efficiency)

Net ROI: XXX% in Year 1

Note: Replace with your organisation's actual metrics and conservative projections based on your specific environment and current GRC maturity level.

2. Craft Stakeholder-Specific Value Propositions

For CISOs: Strategic Security Leadership

Key Message: "GRC Engineering gives you real-time security visibility instead of quarterly compliance reports."

Value Proposition:

For Traditional GRC Leadership: Enhanced Capabilities

Key Message: "GRC Engineering amplifies your expertise instead of replacing it."

Value Proposition:

For External Auditors: Improved Audit Quality

Key Message: "GRC Engineering provides better audit evidence, not less audit work."

Value Proposition:

  • Automated evidence collection with complete audit trails

  • Continuous monitoring provides more comprehensive coverage

  • Real-time data enables more meaningful audit conversations

3. Implement a Phased Pilot Program

Phase 1: Proof of Concept (3 months)

  • Select 3-5 high-pain controls for automation

  • Achieve 50% reduction in evidence collection time

  • Build organisational confidence with quick wins

Phase 2: Pilot Expansion (6 months)

Phase 3: Program Implementation (12 months)

Objection Handling Playbook

"We don't have the technical resources"

"GRC Engineering leverages existing technical resources more efficiently. Our phased approach starts with low-code solutions that your current team can manage."

"This will reduce audit rigour"

"GRC Engineering provides more rigorous evidence than manual collection. Automated evidence collection has complete audit trails and eliminates human error."

"Our current GRC platform already does this"

"Most organisations use less than 30% of their GRC platform's capabilities. GRC Engineering maximises existing investments."

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Content Queue 📖

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

The one and only, GRC Engineering Manifesto.

As you’re building your use-case and perfecting your roadmap, make sure you immerse yourself with the manifesto.

It is the genesis of the movement and includes the mental models that underpin the GRC Engineering vision.

PS: You can also ask your CISO to subscribe to the newsletter haha.

GRC Engineering Manifesto

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

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See you next week!

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