Governance, Data and Compliance using AI | Julian Schwarzkopf | The Bhairav Show | Suhas Bhairav

In this episode of The Bhairav Show, Suhas Bhairav speaks with Julian Schwarzkopf, Founder of a stealth IT GRC startup, former CISO at Trade Republic, and former KPMG security and compliance expert. The conversation explores how regulated companies can rethink IT GRC, compliance, audit readiness, operational resilience, and security in the age of AI agents. For many regulated companies, compliance still feels like an annual fire drill. Audit deadlines arrive, spreadsheets start flying, teams rush to collect evidence, and security leaders are forced to prove controls at the last minute. But what if compliance could become a continuous output of how the company actually operates? Julian has worked across consulting, security leadership, banking, hypergrowth, ISO 27001, DORA, risk management, third-party vendor risk, and IT GRC. In this episode, he shares what is broken in today’s compliance workflows and how automation, better tooling, and AI agents could make GRC more useful for operating teams. We discuss: Why IT GRC is still painful for regulated companies Why teams panic before audits What continuous compliance means in practice Lessons from building an ISMS from scratch at Trade Republic Why many GRC tools disappoint security and compliance teams How AI agents can help with evidence collection and audit readiness Where AI can support control mapping, risk assessment, and compliance workflows What AI should never decide alone in regulated environments How companies should think about vendor risk, cloud tools, SaaS, and AI providers Why compliance should be designed like a product, not just a policy repository How regulated companies can adopt AI without losing security, auditability, and control Advice for founders, CISOs, IT leaders, and compliance teams A key theme of this episode is that compliance should not only serve auditors. Good GRC should help teams operate better, reduce risk, improve visibility, and make security decisions more practical. AI can support compliance by collecting evidence, summarizing control status, mapping requirements, identifying gaps, and improving audit readiness. But in regulated workflows, human oversight remains essential. AI should assist security and compliance teams, not independently approve controls, classify serious incidents, make final compliance decisions, or create policies without review. This episode is useful for CISOs, founders, CTOs, security leaders, compliance teams, regulated companies, fintech builders, AI product teams, and anyone interested in IT GRC, DORA, ISO 27001, operational resilience, and responsible AI automation. About Julian Schwarzkopf Julian Schwarzkopf is the Founder of a stealth startup focused on reimagining IT GRC for regulated companies. He previously worked at Trade Republic, where he built the ISMS and led IT GRC during a period of rapid growth, and at KPMG, where he worked across security, compliance, risk, and regulated environments. About The Bhairav Show The Bhairav Show explores practical artificial intelligence, AI agents, enterprise AI, security, automation, software systems, founders, and the real-world adoption of emerging technologies. Hosted by Suhas Bhairav. Website: https://suhasbhairav.com LinkedIn:   / suhasbhairav   Instagram:   / suhasbhairav   X: https://x.com/suhasbhairav #ITGRC #DORA #ISO27001 #ComplianceAutomation #AIAgents #CyberSecurity #GRC #RegTech #EnterpriseAI #OperationalResilience #RiskManagement #TheBhairavShow #SuhasBhairav #JulianSchwarzkopf