What Happens to CISOs in an AI-Powered GRC World?

By George Totev, Chief Information Security Officer

Before we dig into this week's topic, I encourage you to check out the webinar Nick Martin , Michael Eggerling and I ran last week on Five Game-Changing AI Use Cases in GRC. It's a good practical look at some of the ways that AI is already impacting CISOs and their teams.

The role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is one of the most demanding positions in modern organizations. CISOs are tasked with protecting critical assets, navigating complex regulatory landscapes, and responding to ever-evolving cyber threats. As the role continues to evolve, we are starting to see the effect of AI. It is two-fold - as a threat that we need to manage and as an assistant that could greatly increase our efficiency and effectiveness. As the AI adoption for various business use cases increases, we will have to rely not only on tried and tested methodologies around data protection and software development but also develop new ones that are related to usage. Those of us who dealt with product abuse and restrictions have already had a taste of it; AI will bring it to a whole new level.

At the same time, AI-assisted tools are starting to show in the security space - helping with vulnerability scanning, threat discovery and analysis, secure coding practices, etc. AI-assisted GRC is one of those areas where we see a lot of development, addressing various use cases - creating/answering questionnaires, gap assessments, control assurance/optimization, etc.

Those AI assistants will definitely transform the way we do security but let’s focus on the GRC specifically. As AI continues to transform governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), how will the role of the CISO change?

Here’s a look at what the future holds for CISOs in an AI-powered GRC world.

From Tactical to Strategic Leadership

We have been using GRC tools for a few decades now. They provide tremendous help in cataloging various objects (risks, policies, controls, etc.) and manage their lifecycles. They are indispensable before and during audits, providing a high-level view of the risks within the organization and our efforts in managing them. If you are still buried in docs and spreadsheets you should definitely look into onboarding a specialized GRC tool.

However, a lot of efforts are still dedicated to manually entering and maintaining the data and finding the necessary information. According to the 2025 GRC Benchmark Report from HyperProof, more than 50% of the respondents (mostly CISO) identify data entry tasks as the most time-consuming for their organization. Other activities on the top ten list are finding the necessary information, control assurance, monitoring risk/compliance, and preparing various reports. More “intellectually stimulating” tasks that are specific for more mature organizations and, arguably, have high ROI like optimizing the control set, designing better security solutions in the product, forward-looking risk analyses, etc. are not even on the list. Inevitably, a big part of the CISO role is dealing with tactical GRC challenges—manual audits, compliance checklists, and reactive responses to vulnerabilities.?

As we discussed in a previous post, there isn’t a person in your organization who knows everything about your security posture. Some old timers may know a lot and have the background knowledge of why certain things are the way they are but even they cannot keep up with all the changes - both internal and external. Therefore, a seemingly trivial question from Legal (e.g. regulatory request) or Sales (“Do we have X?”) often turns into a weeks-long search for, collation, and interpretation of data. Finding the right person/document and, potentially, resolving conflicting data adds more stress.?

The good news is that most of those mundane tasks are in the area where AI shines - large amounts of distributed data and knowledge. Well-defined but complex processes like audit, answering questions, etc. could be difficult to automate using traditional tools. However, an AI GRC assistant could achieve a high level of accuracy with ease. Therefore, reducing the time we, and our teams, need to spend on those repetitive, mundane tasks and having an “all-knowing” member on the team will allow us to shift our focus to more strategic, proactive efforts.?

In an AI-powered world, CISOs will spend more time:

• Drive business outcomes: Align security and compliance efforts with broader business objectives, such as entering new markets or securing high-value partnerships.
• Shape risk culture: Influence organizational attitudes toward risk, fostering proactive rather than reactive approaches.
• Innovate in security: Leverage AI insights to implement cutting-edge security solutions tailored to the organization’s unique risk profile.

CISOs as Data-Driven Decision Makers

AI enables real-time analysis of risks, threats, and compliance gaps. CISOs will increasingly rely on data to guide decisions, moving from anecdotal assessments to actionable insights backed by analytics.

Key changes include:

• Better situational awareness. Having accurate information at our fingertips eliminates time-consuming steps and allows us to shorten the decision cycle. Performing multiple “What If?” analyses in a short period of time becomes a reality.
• Predictive capabilities: By analyzing historical data trends and factoring many sources of information about incidents, new regulations, and frameworks, business initiatives, etc. AI can forecast emerging threats and compliance challenges, enabling CISOs to act before issues arise.?
• Smarter resource allocation: With detailed insights, CISOs can allocate budgets and resources more effectively, focusing on the areas of greatest need.

Orchestrators of Collaboration

AI-powered GRC tools often integrate across departments, bridging gaps between security, compliance, and operations. This creates new opportunities for CISOs to foster collaboration.

In the future, CISOs will:

• Break down silos: Collaborate more closely with legal, HR, and operations teams to create unified risk management strategies; Show value beyond security.
• Educate stakeholders: Use AI-generated insights to explain complex security and compliance issues to executives and board members.
• Show value beyond security: Having security-driven insights across the organization could benefit teams outside of security. BIA focused on critical processes may bring operational insights; Security driven vendor assessments could lead to cost optimization; Security analysis of the product abuse risk could lead to reduced operational cost.

Focus on Continuous Improvement

AI shifts GRC from static, point-in-time evaluations to continuous monitoring and improvement. CISOs will oversee this transition, ensuring their organizations remain agile in the face of evolving risks and regulations. “Agile Security” and “Agile Compliance” become a goal.

Responsibilities will include:

• Maintaining adaptability: Regularly updating policies, controls and processes to align with new regulatory requirements and business objectives.
• Leveraging AI innovation: Continuously exploring and adopting new AI capabilities to strengthen security and compliance efforts.
• Driving accountability: Using real-time AI-powered dashboards to track and report on risk posture and compliance progress across the organization.

The Human Element Remains Essential

While AI automates many aspects of GRC, the CISO’s role remains indispensable. The human element—contextual judgment, ethical decision-making, and leadership—cannot be replaced.

CISOs will:

• Provide ethical oversight: Ensure AI-driven decisions align with organizational values and regulatory requirements.
• Lead crisis management: Navigate complex scenarios that require human intuition and decision-making, such as data breaches or regulatory inquiries.
• Champion risk-aware culture: We often talk about risk reduction across the board; in reality, risk management is much more complex. AI will allow us to focus on achieving an optimal risk profile.

How do we prepare for the AI-assisted GRC future?

In an AI-powered GRC world, CISOs will become more strategic, collaborative, and empowered. By embracing AI, they can focus on what truly matters: driving security innovation, building organizational resilience, and aligning risk management with business goals.

AI doesn’t replace the CISO—it enhances the role, transforming it into one of the most influential and dynamic positions in any organization. Interestingly, by automating the repetitive, mundane tasks, the CISO role will become more human-oriented. It will not be so much about generating, hunting, and presenting the data but more about data interpretation, knowledge utilization, and human interactions.

Are you ready to embrace the future of GRC? Let’s discuss how AI can help you reimagine the role of the CISO in your organization.