Arik Solomon, Co-Founder & CEO of Cypago – Interview Series

Arik Solomon, Co-Founder and CEO of Cypago, is on a mission to eliminate the hassle of compliance for businesses. Cypago’s Cyber GRC Automation Platform transforms the traditionally manual, time-consuming process of meeting security standards into an efficient, AI-driven workflow. By integrating with existing software stacks, Cypago streamlines compliance from start to finish, making it easier for organizations to stay secure and compliant.

What inspired you and your co-founder to start Cypago, and what initial challenges did you face in bringing the Cyber GRC Automation (CGA) platform to life?

The inspiration for Cypago came from our firsthand experience in the cybersecurity and compliance domains, where we constantly saw the challenge companies faced in keeping up with an evolving landscape of regulations, standards, and cybersecurity threats. These challenges were amplified by the lack of integration between compliance processes and the practical needs of security teams. We realized that by automating these processes, we could simplify compliance management for companies and make it scalable.

One of the initial hurdles we encountered was designing a solution that could balance automation with the flexibility required to cater to the unique needs of different organizations. Compliance frameworks vary widely and rely on data from multiple sources, so we needed to build a platform that was both robust and adaptable. Additionally, getting early buy-in from stakeholders in an emerging sector like Cyber GRC required educating the market on the advantages of Cyber GRC Automation (CGA) over traditional manual compliance tools.

Can you share more about the transition from your role as CTO at EY to founding a startup? What made you take the leap into entrepreneurship?

Transitioning from my role as CTO at EY to founding Cypago was both a natural evolution and a leap of faith. At EY, I gained extensive experience in understanding the complexities of cybersecurity and compliance across various industries. I saw how the manual nature of compliance processes was bogging down teams, eating into budgets, and leaving companies vulnerable to human error and emerging threats.

The shift to entrepreneurship was driven by my desire to solve these problems at scale, with a solution that would redefine how companies approach security and compliance. Partnering with my co-founder Yahav Peri, who shared this vision, made the transition possible and ultimately brought it to life. We were excited by the opportunity to innovate without the typical constraints of a large organization, allowing us to bring our vision for Cypago’s Cyber GRC Automation platform to life.

For readers who are not familiar with these terms, what are GRC solutions and why do they matter?

GRC stands for Governance, Risk, and Compliance. These solutions are designed to help organizations manage and streamline their processes for meeting regulatory requirements, mitigating risks, and ensuring they operate in line with internal and external standards.

GRC solutions are essential because they provide a structured way for organizations to protect themselves against regulatory fines, cyber threats, and reputational risks. In today’s digital world, companies face an overwhelming number of regulatory standards and security requirements. GRC solutions, particularly ones that incorporate automation like Cypago’s platform, reduce the complexity and cost of managing these obligations. This ultimately allows companies to focus on growth, knowing they have a solid foundation for compliance and risk management.

What makes Cypago’s platform distinct from other Cyber GRC solutions, especially with its use of AI and automation?

Cypago’s platform stands out in the crowded Cyber GRC space due to its advanced integration of AI-driven automation. Unlike traditional solutions that rely heavily on manual processes, Cypago streamlines compliance and risk management by automating key workflows, data collection, and analysis. This allows organizations to respond proactively to compliance requirements and potential risks in real time.

The platform’s intelligent automation not only speeds up audit and compliance tasks but also reduces human error, enhances data accuracy, and frees up resources, enabling teams to focus on strategic activities rather than tedious operational work.

How has the recent integration of AI frameworks like the EU AI Act and NIST AI RMF influenced Cypago’s platform capabilities?

Cypago’s integration of modern AI frameworks such as the EU AI Act and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) has bolstered the platform’s compliance and risk mitigation capabilities.

These frameworks provide guidelines that help ensure that AI is used responsibly, addressing issues related to transparency, bias, and accountability. By incorporating these standards, Cypago’s platform aligns with emerging regulatory requirements and industry best practices, enhancing user trust and compliance with international AI governance. This forward-thinking approach ensures that organizations using Cypago can keep pace with evolving AI legislation while maintaining robust, scalable Cyber GRC practices.

Could you walk us through the role of natural language processing (NLP) in the platform’s chatbot? How does it enhance the compliance process for your users?

Cypago’s platform incorporates advanced natural language processing (NLP) to power its intelligent chatbot, which acts as a virtual compliance assistant. This feature is designed to simplify and streamline the compliance process by transforming complex regulatory language into actionable insights. With NLP, the chatbot can interpret user questions in everyday language and provide contextually relevant responses, facilitating a seamless, user-friendly interaction.

The chatbot leverages NLP to assist with tasks such as retrieving compliance documentation, explaining policy requirements, and guiding users through audit processes. This capability enables users to navigate compliance requirements more efficiently, reducing the need for time-consuming manual research and enhancing the overall compliance experience.

By using NLP to deliver personalized, accurate, and prompt assistance, Cypago’s platform empowers teams to handle compliance with greater confidence and speed, ensuring that they stay informed and prepared in a fast-paced regulatory environment.

With AI compliance gaining momentum, what role do you see AI playing in regulatory frameworks moving forward?

AI has the potential to revolutionize regulatory frameworks by enabling more proactive, adaptive compliance approaches. In a regulatory landscape that’s constantly evolving, specifically within the cybersecurity domain, AI can help detect emerging risks faster, streamline audits, and allow organizations to respond dynamically to changes.

AI will likely play a significant role in monitoring and analyzing data in real time, identifying patterns of non-compliance, and providing predictive insights to prevent issues before they escalate.

How does Cypago’s automation approach address the challenge of maintaining continuous compliance in a constantly evolving threat landscape?

Cypago’s automation approach, anchored in continuous control monitoring, ensures that organizations maintain continuous compliance even as the threat landscape and regulatory environment evolve. By leveraging AI-driven automation, the platform continuously tracks and monitors compliance controls, promptly identifies potential risks, and updates compliance statuses in real-time. This proactive monitoring allows organizations to detect vulnerabilities and respond to changes swiftly, minimizing the need for manual intervention.

Continuous control monitoring also facilitates the seamless integration of new regulations and security frameworks as they arise, keeping organizations aligned with the latest standards. Additionally, Cypago automates the collection and analysis of compliance-related data from various systems, providing a comprehensive and current view of an organization’s compliance posture.

This holistic approach reduces the time and effort required for compliance management and enhances the organization's ability to swiftly adapt to emerging risks and regulatory changes, ensuring a robust, agile compliance strategy.

What are the biggest risks or challenges you foresee in AI compliance, and how is Cypago preparing to address them?

One of the biggest challenges is the ambiguity of regulatory standards, which vary widely across jurisdictions and industries. As a result, companies are left navigating a patchwork of requirements, increasing the complexity of maintaining compliance. Additionally, AI's complexity and opacity make it difficult to explain and validate AI-driven decisions, a growing concern for regulators focused on transparency and accountability.

At Cypago, we’re building solutions that address these challenges by creating transparency in compliance and cyber risk management processes and incorporating tools that can adapt to new standards. Our platform is designed to offer companies real-time insights and automated assessments that reduce the guesswork involved in managing AI-related compliance.

By focusing on adaptability and transparency, we aim to help organizations stay compliant even as regulatory expectations evolve.

How do you envision Cypago’s platform evolving as new AI-driven security regulations emerge globally?

We see Cypago’s platform evolving to include more advanced capabilities for monitoring, managing, and documenting AI compliance in an ongoing and continuous fashion. We’re investing in capabilities that will allow our platform to adapt to new regulatory demands seamlessly, providing companies with an intuitive, automated way to ensure their AI deployments meet the highest standards of compliance.

By staying at the forefront of AI compliance technology, Cypago aims to be a trusted partner for organizations worldwide, enabling them to confidently leverage AI while remaining aligned with global standards.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Cypago.

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