Artificial intelligence is reshaping how organizations operate, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) is no exception. But not all AI is created equal. Generic tools may be powerful, yet they don’t understand your frameworks, your obligations, or the cultural nuances of managing risk.
That’s why we built Cognita: AI designed specifically for GRC – coming soon. Safe by design, grounded in trusted Protecht content, and embedded into the Protecht platform, Cognita amplifies human expertise without replacing it. It helps every employee act as a risk manager, guiding them with clear, contextual insights while ensuring accountability remains firmly with people.
The guiding principles for our design and development teams have been to build an AI tool that is safe enough to trust, while also being smart enough to help. It's also been designed to be scalable so organizations can start small and scale up as they grow.
Why AI belongs in GRC
We all know that risk and compliance decisions don’t just happen in boardrooms. They take place daily in branches, classrooms, project teams, and call centers. Wherever someone owns an objective, they also own the risk. The challenge is that many of these decisions are made without specialist support, and often without confidence or consistency.
This is where Cognita comes in. By embedding AI directly into GRC workflows, Cognita surfaces relevant information at the point of need, prompts users with plain-language guidance, and eliminates low-value admin. It doesn’t replace judgment, it guides it. The result is faster decisions, richer data, and more consistent application of risk frameworks across the enterprise.
Engaging everyone as a risk manager
The principle that “whoever owns the objective owns the risk” is widely recognized. Yet in practice, many frontline staff and managers don’t see themselves as risk managers. Common barriers like complex frameworks, negative perceptions, clunky tools or unclear value all limit engagement.
Cognita helps break down those barriers. It acts as a “risk buddy,” guiding users step-by-step through tasks such as incident logging, review and analysis. It translates jargon into plain language, flags inconsistencies, and prompts staff with context-specific suggestions.
By meeting people where they are and making risk processes easier, Cognita enables higher-quality data, broader participation, and a culture where everyone contributes to managing uncertainty.
Reinforcing risk culture
Risk culture is best described as what happens when no one is watching. A healthy culture means staff speak up, challenge assumptions, and balance risk with opportunity. But poor culture can erode even the most sophisticated frameworks.
AI can play either role: it can strengthen culture by making good practice the easiest path, or undermine it if it obscures reasoning or automates decisions without oversight.
Cognita is built to reinforce, not replace; to strengthen, not undermine. AI suggestions are transparent and permission-controlled; customers remain accountable for outcomes, and usage is opt-in. This human-in-the-loop design keeps accountability with people while giving staff transparent, contextual guidance.
The result: stronger ownership, more constructive challenge, and a culture where risk management is embedded in everyday behaviors.
Embedding AI effectively
The difference between AI that becomes indispensable and AI that fades quietly is how it’s embedded. Poorly embedded AI disrupts workflows, creates mistrust, and undermines accountability. Well-embedded AI blends into daily tasks, delivering value in context while preserving ownership.
Cognita follows five key principles of effective embedding:
- Guide, don’t replace: Cognita suggests next steps but leaves decisions with people.
- Deliver value in context: Insights appear in the workflow during control testing, incident logging or risk reviews, not in a separate dashboard.
- Educate as you go: Every interaction reinforces core GRC concepts, building organizational knowledge over time.
- Challenge constructively: Cognita prompts users with questions that encourage healthy reflection without creating resistance.
- Embed governance: Role-based permissions, audit logs, and labelled outputs ensure transparency and oversight.
Managing the risks of AI
While AI strengthens GRC, it also introduces new risks: bias, privacy breaches, model drift, adversarial attacks, and over-dependence on third parties. These risks shouldn’t sit in isolation: they must be integrated into your enterprise risk management process.
Cognita is designed with this in mind. It operates within governance guardrails: every output is labelled and explainable, permissions are role-based, and AI suggestions require human action and remain under your organization's control. This means organizations can adopt AI at scale without losing transparency or accountability.
By embedding AI risk into the wider ERM framework, Cognita ensures that AI is not just powerful, but governable.
AI as a true GRC enabler
When implemented effectively, AI moves beyond a promising technology to become a genuine enabler of better governance, risk, and compliance outcomes. With Cognita, the benefits are tangible:
- Higher engagement: Staff across the business contribute risk data with less friction.
- Faster, richer data: Reporting is quicker, more accurate, and more consistent.
- Stronger risk culture: Human-in-the-loop oversight reinforces accountability and desired behaviors.
- Scalable processes: Governance keeps pace as adoption grows.
AI should never be a black box. Cognita ensures transparency, auditability, and explainability, transforming AI into a trusted assistant that supports every stage of the GRC lifecycle.
The Protecht advantage with Cognita
Protecht has been helping organizations manage risk for over two decades, from highly regulated sectors like banking and insurance to education and government. Cognita brings that experience into the age of AI.
Unlike generic AI models, Cognita is:
- Built by risk experts, designed by professionals who understand regulatory scrutiny and operational complexity.
- Trained on trusted Protecht content, aligning outputs with best practice frameworks.
- Embedded in Protecht ERM, delivering insights directly in the workflows where decisions happen.
Safe by design, Cognita incorporates role-based permissions, labelled outputs, audit trails, and human oversight. It enhances decision-making without undermining accountability. And it’s built to evolve, with a roadmap including agentic automation, advanced analytics, and regulatory intelligence.
AI in GRC must be safe, useful, and scalable. With Cognita, it already is.