As cloud adoption accelerates, the way organizations approach governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) must evolve. In a recent fireside session hosted by Rewind and Technology Advice, industry experts from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Adaptavist, and Rewind came together to discuss how modern compliance strategies can be reimagined to build truly resilient and audit-ready cloud environments. This article distills their insights from the webinar on integrating compliance into workflows, key controls for cloud and SaaS environments, and the cultural shifts necessary to foster a strong cross-functional compliance program.
Table of Contents
- Embedding compliance into systems and workflows
- Key controls for cloud and SaaS environments
- Core truths for building a strong compliance culture
- Navigating AI adoption while staying compliant
- Common compliance pitfalls in SaaS and cloud environments
- Measuring compliance effectiveness beyond audits
- Conclusion: Embracing GRC in the cloud as a strategic advantage
Why rethink GRC in the cloud?
James Ciesielski, Co-Founder and Entrepreneur in Residence at Rewind, opened the discussion by highlighting a common misconception: many businesses view compliance as a checkbox exercise—a finite game with the sole goal of passing audits. This mindset, he argues, is flawed.
“Compliance is often seen as a necessary evil, something to get through just to achieve a successful audit outcome. But that’s the wrong way to think about it.”
Instead, James advocates for an infinite mindset, where compliance is seen as an ongoing journey of continuous improvement that strengthens organizational resilience and builds customer trust over time. This shift is critical in an era where the cloud and SaaS tools are central to business operations and where the regulatory landscape is rapidly evolving.
Embedding compliance into systems and workflows
One of the first questions tackled was what it looks like when compliance is baked into systems from the start, rather than being an afterthought. James shared a customer story involving a large “Internet of Things” company exploring cloud migration. They recognized a significant risk: the SaaS tools they relied on lacked a backup strategy, leaving them vulnerable to data loss.
This example underscores the importance of integrating compliance controls like backup and recovery directly into cloud operations. Dan MacKay, Principal Compliance Specialist at AWS, echoed this by emphasizing the value of automation and repeatable patterns in deploying controls:
“When customers automate controls and deploy them consistently, they gain the confidence to innovate quickly while staying within risk guardrails.”
Dan also noted the “go slow to go fast” approach, especially relevant with emerging technologies like generative AI. Organizations must balance risk assessment with enabling builders to move rapidly but safely, supported by strong governance and automated compliance processes.
Practical steps to start the shift
- Adopt a continuous improvement mindset: View compliance as ongoing, not a one-time audit target.
- Automate simple, repeatable controls: Free up resources to focus on higher-risk areas.
- Embed compliance into development workflows: Use infrastructure as code and policy-as-code to enforce controls.
- Ensure visibility and traceability: Implement audit logs and monitoring to track who did what and when.
Key controls for cloud and SaaS environments
When asked about the essential controls organizations should prioritize, James highlighted several foundational elements:
- Least privilege access: Enforce role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure users only have the permissions they absolutely need.
- Traceability and logging: Maintain detailed audit logs to enable forensic analysis and compliance proof.
- Encryption: Protect data both in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorized access.
- Backups: Implement automated backup and recovery processes to ensure data resiliency.
Dan added that while controls are important, organizations should avoid getting lost in the minutiae. Instead, he recommends working backwards from specific risks and threats relevant to the organization’s context. This principles-based approach aligns well with many regulatory laws and frameworks, which define outcomes rather than prescriptive controls.
“Focus on implementing best practices rather than chasing one single standard. This is your best defense against big audit or regulatory findings.”
He also emphasized the evolving nature of evidence collection for audits:
“Today we have full visibility into controls and actions in cloud environments. The focus shifts from proving controls were always working to showing how exceptions were promptly detected and corrected.”
Start with the people
Matt Doar, Head Toolsmith at Adaptavist, brought a vital perspective on the human factor. He stressed that compliance starts with the people managing and using systems:
- Keep the number of people who can change system configurations small to reduce risk.
- Track every major configuration change to avoid surprises.
- Engage admins and users early to build understanding and buy-in.
Matt’s advice underscores that even the best technical controls will fall short without a strong compliance culture.
Core truths for building a strong compliance culture
Throughout the discussion, several universal principles emerged that organizations should embrace to build effective GRC programs in the cloud:
1. Automate the boring to focus on the risky
James summarized this well:
“Automate the simple, repetitive parts of compliance so your team can focus on the areas with the highest risks and opportunities for improvement.”
This approach promotes continuous improvement and makes scaling compliance more manageable.
2. Compliance is a holistic, cross-functional effort
Dan warned against viewing compliance as solely an IT issue:
“If you just list technical controls without explaining how risks are managed across the organization, you won’t satisfy auditors or regulators.”
He gave an example of disaster recovery planning where IT might handle technical failover, but business continuity teams must also have plans for longer outages. Compliance requires coordination across people, processes, and technology.
3. Data disposal is critical but overlooked
Matt raised an often-neglected topic: how organizations dispose of data.
- Having less data reduces compliance complexity and risk.
- Organizations must define who has authority to decide when data is no longer needed.
- Planning data deletion goes beyond regulatory requirements like GDPR—it supports long-term maintainability and resilience.
James and Dan agreed that this is an area where customers often assume that SaaS providers handle deletion automatically, but ultimately, it is the customer’s responsibility to instruct and verify data deletion.
Navigating AI adoption while staying compliant
With generative AI rapidly entering enterprise workflows, the panel addressed how teams can adopt AI without compromising compliance.
James cautioned that many organizations may not yet be thinking critically about AI risks and controls, emphasizing privacy considerations first:
- Understand your agreement with AI providers and how your data is handled.
- Implement policies for responsible AI use within your company.
- Be transparent with customers about AI tools in your tech stack.
- Use workflows to anonymize or tokenize sensitive data before sending it to AI models.
Dan added that regulated industries sometimes overreact with excessive caution, which can stifle innovation. He encouraged a balanced approach:
“Test, test, test—not just before deployment, but continuously monitor AI outputs to ensure they operate within defined parameters.”
He reminded listeners that the fundamentals of security and compliance still apply to AI applications, layered with additional controls for AI-specific risks.
Common compliance pitfalls in SaaS and cloud environments
The panel also shared common blind spots teams should be aware of:
- Diving too deep into SaaS vendor details: Rely on third-party audits and certifications rather than trying to audit every technical nuance yourself.
- Neglecting disaster recovery exercises: Testing your DR plans regularly builds confidence and reveals gaps.
- Shadow SaaS proliferation: Unmanaged SaaS tools can create data sprawl and increase risk. Keeping track of all tools and accounts is crucial.
Measuring compliance effectiveness beyond audits
How do you know your compliance program truly works? The panel’s consensus was clear:
- Test your plans regularly: Disaster recovery exercises and resilience testing demonstrate your capability in practice.
- Use monitoring and observability: Show that when incidents occur, you detect and remediate quickly.
- Maintain benchmarks and track trends: Use metrics to identify progress and areas needing attention.
Dan emphasized that cloud environments offer unprecedented visibility and automation, making it easier than ever to prove compliance in real time.
Conclusion: Embracing GRC in the cloud as a strategic advantage
Rethinking GRC in the cloud is not just about meeting regulatory requirements — it’s about leveraging compliance as a foundation for operational strength, resilience, and innovation. As James Ciesielski put it, adopting an infinite mindset on compliance, automating your routine, and focusing on risk enables organizations to build systems that are not only secure and audit-ready, but also agile and customer-trusted.
Dan MacKay’s insights remind us that compliance is a holistic organizational effort, requiring collaboration across IT, security, business continuity, and executive leadership. Similarly, Matt Doar’s focus on people and change management underscores the human element critical to sustainable success.
If you’re ready to rethink your GRC strategy and build true data resiliency in the cloud, start by embedding compliance into your workflows, automating controls, continuously testing your plans, and fostering a culture of shared responsibility.
To learn more about safeguarding the critical data your organization relies on, watch the full webinar recording and learn more about how Rewind can help.
Learn more and connect with the experts
- Connect with James Ciesielski, Dan MacKay, and Matt Doar for discussions on compliance and data resiliency.
- AWS: Find compliance resources at aws.amazon.com, or reach out to your AWS representative.
- Adaptavist: Learn about Atlassian governance and compliance tools at adaptavist.com.
