Risk Cognizance
Procurement partnerAbout
Risk Cognizance is an AI-powered Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) software platform company founded in 2023 and headquartered in New York City. The platform helps businesses, CISOs, MSSPs, and MSPs manage risk, compliance, audit, threat intelligence, and business continuity through a unified, cloud-based system. It supports a wide range of compliance frameworks including SOC 2, PCI DSS, NIST, CMMC, ISO 27001, HIPAA, CCPA, and GDPR.
Details
VenSearch Intelligence
Ideal Customer
- Risk Cognizance's sweet spot is growth-stage companies with 50–300 employees and $5M+ ARR operating in heavily regulated industries.
- The platform is also well-suited for MSSPs, MSPs, and vCISOs managing compliance programs across multiple client environments, as well as Fortune 500 enterprises requiring multi-framework, multi-tenant governance at scale.
Key Differentiators
- Risk Cognizance's primary differentiator is its '6-in-1' unified platform that combines GRC compliance automation, enterprise risk management, attack surface management, third-party risk management, dark web monitoring, and multi-tenant MSSP support in a single system—eliminating the need for multiple point solutions.
- Competitors such as Vanta, Drata, and Secureframe focus narrowly on compliance automation, while OneTrust and SecurityScorecard specialize in TPRM or threat scoring, but Risk Cognizance claims to unify all these capabilities with AI-driven automation.
Industries Served
- Risk Cognizance serves a broad range of industries including financial services, healthcare, government and defense (CMMC/NIST), technology, education, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, accounting, aviation, law, and law enforcement.
- The platform is specifically purpose-built for regulated industries where audit pressure is highest—defense contractors requiring CMMC compliance, healthcare organizations navigating HIPAA, financial services managing PCI DSS and SOC 2, and technology companies pursuing ISO certifications.
Service Coverage
- Risk Cognizance is headquartered in New York City, New York, and operates as a cloud-based SaaS platform with no geographic restrictions on delivery.
- The platform supports global regulatory frameworks including GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and international ISO standards, enabling it to serve organizations across the United States and internationally.
Partnerships
- Risk Cognizance offers a formal Channel Partner Program targeting MSSPs, MSPs, resellers, and technology consultants, providing white-label GRC-as-a-Service delivery capabilities.
- Technology integrations include Microsoft Azure Security Center, Microsoft OneDrive, AWS Security Hub, AWS Config, Google Drive, Google Cloud, Google Security Command Center, Okta, Qualys Cloud Platform, Tenable Vulnerability Management, Jira, Dropbox Business, Box, and Office 365 Document Management.
Company Size & Ownership
- Risk Cognizance LLC was formally incorporated on January 20, 2023, though the platform was originally developed in 2019 to support CyberSecOp customers, and was spun out independently when CEO Jeffery Walker sold his stake in CyberSecOp.
- Employee count estimates vary by source: Crunchbase lists 1–10 employees, ZoomInfo estimates 51–200 employees with a revenue figure of approximately $11.6 million, and independent research sites estimate roughly 15 core employees.
Compliance & Certifications
- Risk Cognizance's GRC platform automates compliance across a wide array of frameworks including SOC 2, PCI DSS, NIST 800-53, NIST CSF, CMMC, ISO 27001, ISO 27002, ISO 27003, HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, CPRA, FedRAMP, COBIT, CIS Controls, and SOX.
- The company claims a Gartner top 3–5 ranking in the GRC Assurance Leaders category, and holds a 4.9-star rating across 12 reviews on Gartner Peer Insights.
Compiled from public sources by VenSearch · Last researched October 14, 2026
Offerings
10 offeringsAttack Surface Management
Risk Cognizance's Attack Surface Management platform provides continuous identification and monitoring of exposed digital assets and vulnerabilities across an organization's IT environment. It supports both agent and agentless security scanning for flexible and thorough cyber risk assessment. Findings are linked directly to enterprise risk and compliance controls within the broader GRC platform.
Audit Manager Software
Risk Cognizance includes a dedicated Audit Manager module that simplifies audit processes by streamlining evidence collection and maintaining audit readiness. It supports automated audit workflows and documentation management to reduce manual effort during compliance reviews. The tool is integrated within the broader GRC platform for unified governance and reporting.
Compliance Management Software
Risk Cognizance's compliance management software automates compliance processes and audit readiness across dozens of regulatory frameworks simultaneously. It uses AI agents to map a single control assessment across multiple global frameworks, reducing manual compliance workload. The platform supports continuous compliance monitoring to keep organizations in a state of constant audit-readiness.
Dark Web Monitoring
Risk Cognizance integrates dark web monitoring to help organizations detect potential threats, leaked credentials, and breach indicators that may not be visible through traditional security tools. This capability is available for both an organization's own environment and extended to vendor profiles for third-party risk purposes. It feeds real-time threat intelligence directly into the GRC compliance dashboard.
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Software
Risk Cognizance's ERM software provides organizations with a holistic overview of risks across all business domains, including over 50 pre-built, configurable risk assessments and hundreds of controls created by certified experts. It features advanced risk modeling to predict the likelihood of adverse events and generates comprehensive risk reports. The solution integrates seamlessly with other Risk Cognizance platform products for unified risk visibility.
GRC as a Service (GRCaaS) / MSSP Launchpad
Risk Cognizance provides a GRCaaS MSSP Business Launchpad program that enables MSSPs and MSPs to build and deliver GRC-as-a-Service and vCISO service offerings to their clients. The program gives partners access to the full Risk Cognizance platform with tools for compliance automation, risk management, vendor oversight, and multi-tenant client management. It is designed to help security service providers scale GRC operations and create new revenue streams.
GRC Platform (Governance, Risk, and Compliance)
Risk Cognizance's core AI-powered, cloud-based GRC platform centralizes regulatory tracking, policy management, audit workflows, and risk assessments into a unified system. It supports multi-framework compliance across SOC 2, PCI DSS, NIST, CMMC, ISO 27001, HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, and more. The platform is designed for organizations of all sizes and includes enterprise oversight, automated assessments, and continuous compliance monitoring.
Multi-Tenant GRC Platform
Risk Cognizance offers a multi-tenant GRC platform purpose-built for MSSPs, MSPs, and organizations with subsidiaries, enabling white-label GRC-as-a-Service (GRCaaS) delivery. The platform allows service providers to manage compliance, attack surface monitoring, dark web surveillance, and vendor management across multiple client environments from a single unified system. It supports scalable operations and branding customization for resellers.
Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)
Risk Cognizance's TPRM platform automates vendor due diligence, risk scoring, and ongoing monitoring by integrating native attack surface management and dark web monitoring for vendor environments. It includes automated vendor questionnaires, remediation workflows, and cross-framework compliance mapping that links vendor gaps directly to affected compliance frameworks. This enables continuous, evidence-backed vendor risk monitoring rather than static annual reviews.
vCISO Platform
The Risk Cognizance vCISO Platform is an all-in-one program management and virtual CISO solution designed for consultants, vCISOs, MSPs, MSSPs, and internal cybersecurity teams. It enables users to assess, build, and manage comprehensive cybersecurity compliance programs with AI-driven automation for governance, risk assessment, and compliance management across numerous clients. The platform includes white-label options and supports delivery of vCISO-as-a-Service.
Considering Risk Cognizance?
Our team will work with you to determine if Risk Cognizance is the right fit for your organization. From research and assessment through procurement negotiation and ongoing vendor management — we handle the entire process at no cost to you.