The Industry Landscape
Navigating Scale and Complexity in Modern GRC
As insurance firms scale, their control environments expand across processes, systems and reporting layers, demanding consistent coverage and assurance without a proportional increase in cost or complexity.
To meet this requirement, enterprises are shifting from periodic compliance exercises to scalable, always-on GRC operating models that embed standardization and domain-relevant automation. This enables continuous, insight-driven control monitoring, improving transparency, strengthening audit readiness and sustaining effective governance at scale.
The Client Challenge
Bridging Capability Gaps in a High-Demand GRC Environment
A leading global insurer operated in a complex, evolving GRC environment where alignment with financial and non-financial risk and control frameworks required specialized expertise across control design, testing and documentation. However, capacity constraints and skill gaps limited its ability to execute control reviews at scale.
This gap between rising audit demands and execution capability impacted overall GRC effectiveness, resulting in:
Gaps in process review coverage, reducing assurance levels
Increased reliance on prolonged auditor interactions
Higher compliance costs due to re-work and inefficiencies
Strain on business stakeholders and control owners managing fragmented processes
Lack of a single source of truth due to fragmented control documentation spread across multiple GRC tools
The Solution
A Scalable, AI-powered GRC Operating Model
As a strategic partner to First Line of Defense, WNS collaborated with the insurer to unify and streamline internal controls management with enhanced coverage for consistent high-quality audit outcomes across a complex, multi-entity environment.
Moving beyond fragmented audit support, our team conducted in-depth process risk assessments, with end-to-end reviews of 410 + controls across 125+ processes and 50+ systems while mapping manual and IT controls, key system applications, End-User Computing (EUC), model controls, and ESG and Information Produced by the Entity (IPE) controls.
This led to a GRC transformation solution that rested on five key pillars.
1. Specialist-led Operating Model
At the core of the solution was a curated team of GRC specialists with deep expertise across business and technology controls. This replaced the client’s reliance on traditional pyramid-based staffing models, delivering sharper insights, stronger control perspectives and significant cost efficiencies, without compromising on rigor or timelines.
2. Standardized GRC Tool as Single Source of Truth
A standardized, unified GRC environment was implemented by streamlining process and control taxonomies, harmonizing data structures and reducing redundancies across entities and domains. The GRC tool’s usability and effectiveness was improved through refined workflows and enhanced control mapping, creating a reliable single source of truth for controls, processes and audit evidence.
3. Unified Controls Review
A single, coordinated execution model brought together the First Line of Defense and external auditors into a tightly aligned workflow. By managing the full audit lifecycle – from planning through testing and validation – this model eliminated silos, reduced duplication and ensured consistent interpretation of control requirements across teams.
4. AI-led Standardization and Productivity Enhancement
WNS embedded AI-enabled capabilities, including OpenAI-powered Copilot and client-led tools, into key stages of the GRC lifecycle. This layer standardized documentation, streamlined audit workflows and improved the speed and consistency of outputs, reducing manual effort while enhancing overall audit quality.
5. Framework-driven Governance and Consistency
The entire model was anchored to the client’s financial risk and control framework, aligned with the Internal Control Framework of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). This ensured all activities were executed within a consistent governance structure, supporting audit readiness and regulatory alignment across the enterprise.
The Outcome
Stronger Control Assurance with Scalable, Future-Ready GRC
The engagement delivered a step change in the client’s control environment by combining deep process visibility with structured remediation and governance improvements. It delivered:
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Enterprise-wide process risk assessment aligned with external audit expectations
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Comprehensive review of processes with detailed walkthroughs, control identification and enhancement recommendations
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End-to-end documentation of process flows, narratives and control mapping across business and IT environments
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Coordinated remediation with cross-functional stakeholders, enabling timely closure of control gaps and improved control maturity
Tangible outcomes included:
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high-impact process improvement opportunities uncovered across key functions
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critical control deficiencies surfaced, reducing operational and compliance risk exposure
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expansion in internal assurance capability
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scaled coverage across business units
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external auditor reliance achieved, reducing audit friction
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acceleration in process documentation and IT control testing through intelligent automation