Security, risk, compliance to eventually be currency of trust: Sprinto founder Girish Redekar

New Delhi: Fresh out of a USD 20 million fundraise, security compliance automation platform Sprinto’s AI powered intelligent automation brings down manual effort in compliance for businesses from months to days, says its founder Girish Redekar.

With over 150 integrations and powerful API (application programming interface) connectors at work, Sprinto seamlessly connects with businesses’ existing systems, and gives a real-time view of their security and compliance posture, according to Redekar.

“Real world businesses are complex and dynamic, and automation should be intelligent enough to adapt to these changes,” Redekar told PTI.

Going beyond handholding companies in compliance, Sprinto helps them build and cement trust with external stakeholders by demonstrating strong security and privacy practices, he said.

In a world where every business has a digital presence, and cloud technologies mean that businesses now share their digital footprint with other organisations, companies need to trust that their data will be safe. "Security, risk and compliance will eventually become the currency of trust," Redekar said.

For Sprinto, the latest round of funding - which is a resounding vote of confidence from existing investors Accel, Elevation Capital and Blume Ventures - will help accelerate the company's product roadmap, especially around intelligent automation and AI, enable it to make inroads into new markets and segments, and "raise the bar even higher" on customer experience and satisfaction, he said.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: What specific challenges do businesses face in maintaining compliance and privacy standards?

A: Today businesses have a Catch-22 situation with compliance. On the one hand, they recognise compliance as vital, not only because of regulatory constraints but also because it builds trust and opens revenue corridors. At the same time, it is exhausting to keep up with compliance and privacy requirements. Businesses face three specific challenges.

First, conventional ways of compliance take hundreds of hours, but the teams tasked with the same are often lean. Second, businesses find it hard to keep up with changes in regulation and translating them to actual security practices. Errors and delays are common, leading to frustration. And finally, even after completing compliance, businesses struggle with demonstrating their security practices to external stakeholders.

Q: Could you elaborate on the role of intelligent automation and AI in Sprinto’s platform and how it contributes to simplifying compliance processes for businesses?

A: It is tempting to believe that automation can eliminate compliance busywork, but shrink-wrapped automation often causes more issues than it solves. Real world businesses are complex and dynamic, and automation should be intelligent enough to adapt to these changes. For instance, you might want to automate some HR compliance practices, but if the automation isn’t smart enough to accommodate remote employees, or contracting/consulting employees, or part time employees, you have a problem.

Sprinto’s intelligent automation leverages AI and is designed to handle such scenarios - and the difference is similar to that of a car with cruise-mode and a self-driving car.

Q: In the rapidly evolving governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) market, how does Sprinto differentiate itself from competitors, and what unique value does it offer to businesses?

A: Businesses’ GRC needs are rapidly evolving, not only because of the changing regulatory landscape, but also because they grow into new markets, and have a dynamic environment. Legacy GRC do not provide any automation, whereas most automated GRCs find it hard to adapt to complex businesses.

Sprinto’s AI-powered, intelligent automation, eliminates busywork in all environments, and brings down the manual effort in compliance from months to days. With more than 150 integrations and powerful API connectors, Sprinto seamlessly connects with a business’ existing systems, and gives a real-time picture of their security and compliance posture.

Sprinto not only reduces effort, but also gathers error-free and verifiable evidence. Finally, Sprinto goes beyond helping companies become compliant - it also helps them build trust with external stakeholders by demonstrating their security and privacy practices.

This combination of automation, high fidelity, and trust makes Sprinto a distinct option for its customers.

Q: You recently raised funding from Tier-1 VCs like Accel, Blume and Elevation. How do you plan to deploy these investments?

A: We just closed a USD 20 million series B round, and will deploy the capital into three main initiatives. The funding will accelerate our product roadmap, especially around intelligent automation and AI. We will also expand our platform covering more frameworks, integrations, and additional modules.

Next, we will further improve our award-winning customer experience. Sprinto is already rated as a top SaaS (Software as a Service) product in customer satisfaction, and we want to raise the bar higher.

Finally, the commercial roadmap is equally ambitious. We want to keep expanding our geographical footprint and expand into new markets and segments.

With this fundraise, we can make sure that many more businesses get access to our compliance and risk automation. This ultimately helps fuel our mission to eliminate any barriers and friction in establishing trust between businesses.

Q: Considering increased importance of compliance and risk management, particularly in light of data proliferation and the shift to cloud-based technologies, how does Sprinto see future landscape of compliance and its own role in driving business growth?

A: Security, risk and compliance will eventually become the currency of trust.

Every business today has a digital footprint, and cloud technologies mean that businesses now share their digital footprint with other businesses. We are in a world where businesses need to trust that other businesses will keep their data safe.

Unfortunately, there are many barriers for businesses to demonstrate their security practices, while it’s equally hard for other businesses to verify these practices. This erodes trust and makes it harder for businesses to work with each other.

Sprinto envisions a future where establishing trust between businesses is convenient and simple. We’re building that future, and we believe that will truly accelerate the GDP of business to business commerce around the world.

Q: How has Sprinto's platform been successfully implemented by businesses, and what outcomes have been achieved?

A: Thousands of companies, active across 75 countries, trust Sprinto to automate their risk and compliance programmes. Our customers come in all shapes and sizes, from hyper growth startups, to large multinational corporations. Sprinto has not only helped them become compliant and secure, but has also helped them build trust and reach their business goals. Sprinto customers eliminate months of manual effort, become more confidently secure, and grow fearlessly into new markets.