Strike Graph is proud to announce that we have been named a winner of the Global InfoSec Award presented by Cyber Defense Magazine.

Strike Graph was recognized for its innovative approach to Governance, Risk, and Compliance — solving what legacy tools never could: helping organizations manage multi-framework compliance, eliminate third-party vendor risk blind spots, and move from checkbox compliance to a security program that actually holds up under scrutiny.

GRC has a reputation problem. For years, compliance has been synonymous with spreadsheets, consultant bills, and checkbox exercises that produce documentation instead of actual security. Legacy tools haven't helped — most have bolted AI onto outdated workflows and called it innovation.

"Compliance has spent too long being treated as a tax on growing companies. We built Strike Graph to change that — to give security teams AI that actually does the work of validating evidence, mapping controls, and surfacing risk, so compliance becomes something you can be proud of instead of something you just survive. This recognition means we're on the right track." — Justin Beals, CEO, Strike Graph

Strike Graph's platform stands apart with its graph-based, zero-trust AI architecture — built from the ground up for compliance, not retrofitted from a generic data model. It enables evidence to be collected once and mapped intelligently across every applicable framework, while Verify AI continuously validates controls before auditors ever see them. The result: faster certification, fewer surprises at audit time, and a compliance program that actually reflects your security posture.

Why Strike Graph won

• AI-native architecture — Built from the ground up with AI at the foundation, not bolted on. Evidence is mapped once across every applicable framework, eliminating redundant work across SOC 2, ISO 27001, CMMC, FedRAMP, and more.
• Evidence validated before auditors see it — Verify AI reviews your controls and flags gaps — missing timestamps, outdated policy dates, incomplete details — so your team finds problems first.
• Unified compliance and vendor risk in one platform — Trust Chain brings the same AI-powered validation to third-party risk, replacing static questionnaires with continuous, evidence-based vendor assessments.
• A zero-trust AI stack that protects your data — All data stays encrypted, segmented, and is never used to train third-party models. We built and trained our AI in-house, on proprietary synthetic data.
• Recognized alongside the top 3% of AI companies — One of only 33 companies selected nationwide for the AWS Startups: Building with Llama program, out of more than 1,000 applicants.

What it takes to win this award

The Global InfoSec Awards honor companies and solutions with a proven track record of cybersecurity innovation, leadership, and effectiveness. Winners are selected by a panel of certified security professionals — CISSPs, CEHs, and infosec experts from around the globe — who evaluate submissions independently based on innovation, real-world impact, and the ability to get ahead of tomorrow's threats.

Cyber Defense Magazine publisher Gary Miliefsky described what the judges look for in winners: understanding tomorrow's threats today, delivering cost-effective solutions, and innovating in ways that genuinely reduce cyber risk. That framing maps closely to what we set out to build.

Most GRC platforms were designed for a world before AI existed — and it shows. Compliance workflows built on spreadsheets, static questionnaires, and manual evidence collection aren't just slow; they create false confidence. You think you're ready for an audit until an auditor tells you otherwise.

Strike Graph was architected from the ground up with AI at the foundation, not bolted on as a feature. The difference isn't cosmetic; it’s real impact.

Justin Beals, Strike Graph CEO, accepting the award at the RSA Conference 2026. 

What AI-native GRC actually looks like in practice

When Black Mountain Software, a leading provider of software solutions for local governments, needed to get SOC 2 certified, their security officer, Melissa Sneed, had been trying to manage compliance manually — Google Forms, YouTube tutorials, Jira workarounds. It wasn't working.

After implementing Strike Graph, Black Mountain cut the time required to complete security questionnaires by 77% with Strike Graph's AI Security Assistant. Questionnaires that used to take Melissa 2 to 3 hours now take only 15 minutes to run. Using Strike Graph, their evidence collection time has also been reduced by 50% through integrations, and they have now completed two successful SOC 2 audits.

Her takeaway: "I really am just surprised at how a big, scary task has been broken down into multiple manageable ones... I would highly recommend Strike Graph."

Read the full Black Mountain Software case study →

The capabilities behind the recognition

A few of the platform features that contributed to this award:

Verify AI reviews your evidence before your auditors do — flagging missing timestamps, outdated policy dates, and incomplete details so you find the gaps, not them.

Trust Chain (TPRM) brings AI-powered validation to vendor risk. Instead of relying on self-reported questionnaires, it validates real vendor evidence continuously, inside the same platform you use to manage your own compliance program.

Enterprise Workspaces lets complex organizations centralize compliance governance across business units, geographies, and products — without scaling headcount proportionally.

And underlying all of it: a zero-trust AI architecture that keeps your data encrypted, segmented, and never used to train third-party models. We've built and trained our AI in-house, on proprietary synthetic data — because we believe we have a responsibility to protect the data and privacy of the organizations that trust us.

We were also one of only 33 companies nationwide selected for the AWS and Meta “Building with Llama” program — out of more than 1,000 applicants — placing Strike Graph in the top 3% of AI companies recognized for technical foundation and real-world impact.

Where GRC goes from here

AI is changing what's possible in compliance — but only if the architecture is built to take advantage of it. In a recent blog, our CEO Justin Beals makes the case that the compliance industry's shortcut culture has finally caught up with it — and that the only path forward is compliance built around a company's actual risk profile, not a copy-pasted template. Security teams deserve tools that help them demonstrate defensible, continuous compliance, not tools that generate documentation and call it done.

This award is a milestone, but the work is what matters. If you're ready to see what AI-native GRC looks like in your environment, schedule a demo, and we'll show you.