Whistic’s Post

Annual assessments are collapsing under modern vendor risk. 2026 will be signal-driven. One of the CISOs we interviewed said something we’re hearing everywhere right now: “A lot can change in 10 months. Annual cycles don’t capture any of it.” AI features roll out quietly. New sub-processors appear overnight. Certifications expire. Infrastructure shifts. Breaches happen fast. And yet most vendor risk programs still operate on a 12-month cadence. Here’s the shift happening across enterprise TPRM: 👉 Oversight is no longer time-based. 👉 It’s signal-based. 👉 Reviews occur when vendor risk changes — not when the calendar says so. What this looks like in practice: Immediate review when a vendor adds AI capabilities Automatic triggers for new sub-processors Alerts when SOC or ISO reports expire Faster response to breaches and material changes Continuous monitoring for Tier 1 & Tier 2 vendors Why it matters: Boards expect real-time visibility, not stale reports. Risk is dynamic — your oversight must be too. This is the operational model CISOs are preparing for in 2026. (Full blog linked in comments.)