Feeling lost in a sea of “next‑gen” risk tools that all promise unified visibility and maturity? We break the cycle of flashy demos and stalled implementations with a practical, research‑backed way to evaluate vendors and build a roadmap that actually advances your program. Anchored by the IRM Navigator Curve from Wheelhouse Advisors, we chart the journey from fragmented, audit‑driven dysfunction to a destination we call risk agency, where human judgment and machine action work together within clear guardrails.

We unpack the five maturity levels—foundational, coordinated, embedded, extended, autonomous—and show how progress depends on investing across four domains in sequence: GRC for policies, ERM for goals, ORM for processes, and TRM for assets and telemetry. The core message is simple and urgent: you cannot buy your way into maturity. Without unified policies, goals, and workflows, advanced tech becomes an expensive documentation tool. To cut through marketing noise, we share a two‑minute, three‑question diagnostic that slots any vendor: 1) which domain does it improve next, 2) does it unify or deepen silos, and 3) does it reduce work or only document it. Then we map real‑world vendor profiles to the curve to illustrate exactly where each solution can take you.

You’ll leave with a decision framework that drives strategic budgeting, prevents lateral moves into better silos, and focuses every purchase on measurable progress. We also point to Vendor Compass and Sonar research from Wheelhouse Advisors that assess market leaders and innovators like Riskonnect, ServiceNow, OneTrust, Archer, and top consultancies through this lens. Ready to replace feature checklists with a roadmap to risk agency? Follow, share with your team, and tell us where your program sits on the curve and what’s blocking your next step.

Wheelhouse Advisors’ YouTube channel delivers fast, executive-ready insights on Integrated Risk Management. Explore short explainers, IRM Navigator research highlights, RiskTech Journal analysis, and conversations from The Risk Wheelhouse Podcast. We cover the issues that matter most to modern risk leaders. Every video is designed to sharpen decision making and strengthen resilience in a digital-first world. Subscribe at youtube.com/@wheelhouseadv.

Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform—whether it's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music.

Please contact us directly at info@wheelhouseadvisors.com or feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn and X.com.

Visit www.therisktechjournal.com and www.rtj-bridge.com to learn more about the topics discussed in today's episode.

A hard truth drives this conversation: leaders are seeing the risks but not making the moves. We unpack the 76–42–22 drop-off, visibility to engagement to action, and show why the real bottleneck isn’t data, it’s decision architecture. If your board keeps asking for tighter numbers and firmer timelines, you’re living the reporting plateau. Precision can be counterproductive for emerging risks: it invites model debates, signals high-cost commitments, and rationalizes delay.

We walk through a better path built on solution options. Instead of fear-based dashboards, bring low regret actions that borrow existing budgets, quantify the cost of waiting, and sequence work across quarters. A simple shift to training three cross-functional leads on new AI rules, wiring KRIs to a pilot, and setting a Q3 decision point turns a vague threat into a paced plan. Boards respond to choices and trade-offs, not speculative confidence intervals.

To make this repeatable, we use the IRM Navigator model: GRC, ERM, ORM, and TRM working in balance. ERM ties risks to growth, margin, and launch timelines so decisions map to value. ORM surfaces real-time KRIs and near misses to anchor action in reality. TRM connects controls to live telemetry, enabling continuous monitoring and swift technical adjustments. GRC provides the rigor to document, test, and assure. Together, the four domains deliver PRAC: performance, resilience, assurance, and compliance without sacrificing speed.

We share a concrete action plan: audit your investment asymmetry, kill problem-precision packets, adopt solution-options reporting, wire ORM and TRM into analysis, and measure success by decision velocity. Vendors and advisors are shifting too, judged by how quickly they convert a signal into a board-approved step. If you want your organization to move when the stakes are highest, build the emerging risk reflex now.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a colleague who owns risk or strategy, and leave a quick review with your biggest takeaway. What low regret move will you make this quarter?

Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform—whether it's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music.

Please contact us directly at info@wheelhouseadvisors.com or feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn and X.com.

Visit www.therisktechjournal.com and www.rtj-bridge.com to learn more about the topics discussed in today's episode.

The latest episode of The Risk Wheelhouse tackles one of the strangest sights in this year’s risk technology landscape. The 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Governance, Risk, and Compliance arrives with an empty Visionaries quadrant. No challengers, no upstarts, just silence where innovation used to live. Rather than treating this as a warning sign, Ori Wellington and Sam Jones explain why the quiet is a signal that GRC has finally stabilized into what it was always best suited to be: the institutional assurance backbone that proves what happened, preserves the evidence, and keeps auditors, regulators, and boards on solid ground.

From there, they draw a clear line between GRC’s retrospective role and the forward-looking mandate of Integrated Risk Management. The conversation traces how GRC has narrowed to serve assurance leaders, why verification alone cannot answer questions about resilience and performance, and how IRM steps in as the unifying management layer that connects ERM, ORM, TRM, and GRC. Along the way, Ori and Sam unpack the PRAC model, position technology risk as the binding agent across the stack, and introduce “assurance intelligence” as the capability that turns static audit results into real-time decision input. A concrete firewall example shows what it looks like to move from “48 of 50 passed last quarter” to “our resilience score just dropped and we need action today.”

If you own risk, audit, compliance, or technology strategy, this episode will help you reframe GRC as essential infrastructure rather than a silver bullet platform. You will come away with a clearer understanding of why the Visionaries disappeared, how IRM now carries the integration agenda, and what it will take to move from evidence on paper to assurance that actually shapes decisions. For greater insights, read Wheelhouse Advisors’ IRM Navigator™ Vendor Compass for Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) - 2025 Edition.

Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform—whether it's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music.

Please contact us directly at info@wheelhouseadvisors.com or feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn and X.com.

Visit www.therisktechjournal.com and www.rtj-bridge.com to learn more about the topics discussed in today's episode.