Enterprises rely on Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) as the operating framework that aligns strategy with accountability, helping them manage operations, set expectations, identify risks, and comply with legal and ethical standards. As regulatory expectations expand across whistleblowing, global risk alignment, and responsible AI adoption, organizations face growing pressure not just to comply but to demonstrate defensible governance.
The first wave of GRC software platform adaptation focused on centralizing data, replacing spreadsheets, and automating workflows. That shift was transformative in streamlining regulatory compliance.
Today, automation software alone is not enough. Organizations are moving beyond automation-only models and pairing intelligent platforms with embedded expertise to strengthen credibility, defensibility, and long-term resilience.
The Credibility Imperative in Modern GRC
For years, GRC automation was viewed as the primary path to efficiency and consistency in regulatory compliance management. As organizations grow more interconnected and regulatory expectations evolve, however, compliance decisions increasingly require interpretation, prioritization, and defensible reasoning — not just automated analysis. Regulators expect clear documentation. Boards demand justification. Stakeholders ask not only what decision was made, but why. Even though AI can process data faster than a human, it will still take a human to interpret complex regulations accurately, especially as international regulations evolve.
“Because the hardest GRC decisions aren’t binary, organizations are constantly interpreting conflicting or complex requirements, prioritizing risk remediation, and responding to regulators, auditors, boards, and other stakeholders,” said Brent Cole, the CEO of Mitratech’s GRC Division.
Software can surface risk signals, and AI can accelerate analysis, but only experienced practitioners can provide the contextual judgment that ensures decisions are explainable and defensible under scrutiny. Organizations must be able to tell their stakeholders why a particular decision or risk was worth addressing, which is a credibility layer that technology can not yet accomplish at scale without a human in the loop. In other words, the evolution of GRC is not about replacing expertise with automation; it is about strengthening automation with expertise.
The “Embedded” Era of GRC Advising
As regulatory expectations rise, organizations are redefining what they expect from their GRC partners and tools. They need defensible, data-driven decision-making shaped by real-world experience, enabling this credibility at scale. They need informed guidance built into the platform itself.
This is giving rise to the embedded GRC advisor, a model in which unified technology is paired with in-house regulatory and risk practitioners who help translate complex requirements into sustainable operating models.
Technology centralizes data and automates execution, while practitioner-led advisory helps organizations:
- Interpret evolving regulations
- Design resilient program architectures
- Align global governance frameworks
- Make decisions that stand up to audit and regulatory review
“Risk has moved beyond ‘follow the template’ to ‘apply the principle,’ and ‘think three steps into the future,” said Cole. “While AI and automated operations can streamline analysis, judgment/experience are what make governance trustworthy; knowing what matters and what will stand up under scrutiny is invaluable.”
This is what credibility at scale looks like: connected oversight powered by technology, strengthened by practitioner-led insight.
Operationalizing Practitioner-Led GRC
Mitratech has operationalized this model within its global GRC solutions, combining connected intelligence with embedded regulatory and risk practitioners who bring real-world experience to customer programs and can offer a practical perspective that bears complete responsibility for the GRC environment.
Rather than treating advisory as an add-on, Mitratech embeds experienced professionals who work alongside customers to interpret requirements, pressure-test program design, and strengthen governance frameworks. Technology centralizes data and accelerates insight; experienced practitioners provide the context and judgment that turn that insight into sustainable operating models.
Together, the solutions and advisory model enable organizations to mature their GRC programs with confidence,scaling governance in ways that are structured, connected, and built to stand up to regulatory and stakeholder review.
The recent expansion of Mitratech’s in-house GRC advisory expert leadership — including industry veteran Jan Tadeusz Stappers as EVP, GRC Solutions Strategy, and Executive Vice President Laura Jacobus — reinforces this commitment to practitioner-led credibility.
Tasked with overseeing all complex decisions regarding risk program design, compliance, governance, cross-jurisdictional execution, and ethics, this new team-up will provide enterprises with hands-on expertise in risk logic, program architecture, and regulatory analysis. They will assist organizations in turning complex regulatory requirements into sustainable, compliant GRC strategies.
“Customers are asking for more than tools – they want informed guidance they can trust,” said Laura Jacobus. “Having experienced practitioners embedded within Mitratech means our customers benefit from insight shaped by lived ethics, compliance, and risk experience, not theoretical models or one-size-fits-all approaches.”
In areas such as whistleblowing program design, AI governance oversight, and cross-jurisdictional compliance alignment, embedded advisors ensure that governance structures are not only efficient but also defensible and culturally aligned.
Mitratech combines advanced, responsible AI capabilities with practitioner oversight, ensuring that automation accelerates execution while experienced experts safeguard ethical, controlled, and defensible outcomes. The approach proves that automated software platforms can be accurate, ethical, and controlled well enough to navigate the complex AI regulatory landscape when they are embedded with in-house advisors.
“Good GRC today looks like connected oversight, plus defensible evidence, plus expert judgment, with technology accelerating execution rather than replacing thinking,” said Cole.
Conclusion: Expert-Led, Not Expert-Replaced
Automation remains essential. But on its own, it is no longer sufficient to meet the rising demand for connected, defensible governance. In a market saturated with AI claims and fragmented tools, organizations increasingly trust platforms that are expert-led, not expert-replaced.
The future of GRC belongs to unified platforms that combine intelligent technology with embedded practitioner expertise. That combination enables organizations to scale governance confidently, demonstrate accountability clearly, and make decisions that withstand regulatory and stakeholder scrutiny.
Mitratech is leading the effort to transition enterprises to an expert-led GRC software system that combines the power of human intelligence and automation. That will allow organizations and stakeholders to have complete confidence in the judgment and decisions made at every level.
