The Rise of GRC Engineering with AJ Yawn
In this episode, Monica Reagor interviews AJ Yawn, a thoughtleader in GRC and cybersecurity. They discuss AJ's journey into GRC, the importance of technical skills, and the role of Python in GRC engineering. AJ emphasizes the need for GRC professionals to build relationships, shift from checkbox compliance to business value, and start small when implementing GRC engineering principles. The conversation highlights the exciting future of GRC engineering and the importance of education and mentorship in the field.
#GRC #GRCEngineering
AJ Yawn
Veteran / Author of GRC Engineering / Cybersecurity Expert
AJ Yawn is the author of the best-selling GRC Engineering for AWS and one of the leading voices shaping the future of governance, risk, and compliance.
With more than 15 years in cybersecurity, AJ's journey has spanned military leadership, entrepreneurship, and executive roles in some of the most trusted organizations in the world. He began his career as a U.S. Army officer, earning the rank of Captain, where precision, discipline, and accountability were the difference between success and failure. Those values have guided him ever since.
After leaving the Army, AJ launched into the cybersecurity industry, quickly recognizing the gap between the speed of modern technology and the outdated approaches of traditional compliance. Determined to close that gap, he founded and served as CEO of a venture-backed cybersecurity startup, leading teams to help organizations tackle their most pressing challenges. Later, as a Partner at a Top 20 CPA firm, he worked directly with companies navigating regulatory complexity, seeing firsthand how broken and inefficient the compliance landscape had become.
Today, AJ serves as the Director of GRC Engineering at Aquia, where he pioneers practical, scalable solutions for continuous compliance in the cloud. He's also a sought-after instructor and mentor:
→LinkedIn Learning Instructor with courses on GRC, SOC 2, and cloud compliance, completed by more than 171,000 learners worldwide.
→Associate Instructor at the SANS Institute, teaching the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
→Mentor t…
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