GRC Automation Becomes Essential as Compliance Demands Accelerate

Security teams are facing a breaking point. 

With regulations accelerating and threats multiplying, many organizations are discovering that traditional governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) processes simply can’t keep up. 

Manual evidence gathering, siloed systems, and spreadsheet-driven workflows are slowing teams down at the exact moment attackers and regulators are speeding up.

“Even well-resourced teams struggle to balance regulatory obligations with broader goals around improving security posture,” said Matt Muller, Field CISO at Tines. 

He added, “Too many teams are stuck with siloed systems and manual processes that can’t scale to meet the complexity of modern enterprises.”

What’s Fueling the Modern GRC Overload

Multiple pressures are converging to stretch GRC teams beyond their limits. Regulatory frameworks are expanding at an unprecedented pace, increasing both complexity and workload. 

Nearly half of GRC teams say they struggle to keep up with updates to existing standards, let alone newer mandates like NIS2 or DORA. 

These frameworks also introduce new legal jeopardy, as regulators show increasing willingness to hold security leaders accountable for failures to govern risk.

The data landscape is also complicating compliance. Privacy requirements such as GDPR demand strong data accuracy, access controls, encryption, and classification — across environments that are often fragmented and inconsistent. 

Meanwhile, vulnerabilities and cyberattacks are accelerating. 

In 2024 alone, the number of newly discovered vulnerabilities grew an estimated 61%, intensifying the need for real-time risk assessment and monitoring.

Many organizations are also hampered by siloed ownership. Legal, finance, IT, and security may all participate in GRC, but without shared systems or visibility, efforts are duplicated, fragmented, or delayed.  

Where Traditional GRC Breaks Down

Traditional GRC processes crumble under modern expectations because they rely heavily on human-driven tasks. 

Evidence collection requires downloading reports, updating spreadsheets, emailing stakeholders, and manually uploading artifacts. 

Risk assessments depend on cross-team coordination that may not exist. Policy enforcement requires reminders and follow-ups that fall through the cracks. Audits can trigger weeks of scrambling.

This manual approach introduces delays, inconsistencies, and — most importantly — inaccurate data. For security teams, the biggest risk may be that leadership believes they have real-time insight when the underlying GRC processes cannot physically deliver it.

Where Automation Delivers the Most GRC Value

Workflow automation and orchestration are essential tools for modernizing GRC. Organizations are using automation to reduce manual work, eliminate silos, and stay ahead of regulatory change.

Key areas where automation can make a meaningful impact include:

Streamlined compliance processes

Automation can collect evidence, update dashboards, and prepare audit documentation with minimal human involvement. 

Routine tasks — such as gathering vulnerability data or access logs — can be scheduled and standardized, reducing the likelihood of oversight or error.

Enhanced risk management

Automated workflows are able to consolidate internal signals, vendor information, and threat intelligence into a unified view for real-time scoring. 

For example, a new vendor intake process can automatically trigger a risk assessment and update the organization’s risk register.

Stronger policy enforcement and monitoring

Policy acknowledgments, violations, and remediation actions can be tracked programmatically. 

Automated alerts help teams identify emerging compliance gaps early, providing time to address issues before they escalate.

More efficient audit cycles

Automation supports continuous audit readiness by maintaining detailed audit trails, securely storing logs, and ensuring required evidence remains readily available. 

This reduces the last-minute effort that often contributes to errors and delays.

Why Automating GRC Is No Longer Optional

Organizations that automate GRC gain clearer visibility into risk, reduce fatigue, and increase cross-team alignment. 

Automation also strengthens security programs by mapping controls across multiple frameworks and exposing gaps before attackers or regulators do.

Many organizations have faced reputational harm and security incidents linked to gaps in their GRC programs. Automation helps reduce those risks by strengthening consistency and oversight.

As regulatory pressure intensifies and attack surfaces grow, GRC cannot remain a slow-moving, manual function. Security teams who operationalize and automate GRC now will be better positioned to protect their organizations — and themselves — in the years ahead.

Automating GRC doesn’t just improve oversight; it also supports a zero-trust approach by enforcing consistent, evidence-backed validation across users, systems, and processes.