Layer 1 — Strategic Governance & Oversight:
- Board & C-suite set risk appetite, assurance priorities, and accountability.
- One Integrated Assurance Owner (often Chief Risk/Assurance/Compliance Officer) coordinates across domains.
- Aligned with enterprise strategy: ESG commitments, mission assurance, regulatory obligations.
(Reference: PwC highlights that assurance must be tied to board-level governance and strategy alignment.)
Layer 2 — Risk & Control Integration:
- Single enterprise risk register linking compliance, cyber, quality, ESG, supply chain.
- Cross-domain audits, stress testing, and scenario planning (e.g., cyber breach + product recall).
- Unified control framework (reducing duplication across ISO, NIST, CMMC, ESG frameworks).
(Reference: Gartner notes that risks like AI, privacy, and third-party risk cannot be managed in silos.)
Layer 3 — Operational Execution & Technology:
- Shared platforms for monitoring, reporting, and dashboards (real-time KPIs, alerts, root-cause analytics).
- Automation of evidence collection & continuous controls monitoring.
- Common assurance language and data standards across teams (quality, compliance, cyber).
(Reference: PwC survey found 49% of companies already using tech across 11+ compliance activities.)
Why This Model Works
- Top-down alignment (strategy drives assurance, not the other way around).
- Cross-domain visibility (risks connected, not isolated).
- Efficiency through tech (shared tooling eliminates duplicated work and blind spots).
Here’s the 3-layer architecture we recommend for integrated assurance — a model rooted in proven frameworks validated by PwC, Gartner, and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). What we’ve done is package and modernize these real-world case studies into one coherent structure that connects strategy, risk, and operations into a model leaders can actually use today.
If your organization wants to know which tools to use and how to implement this 3-layer model step by step, reach out to Guevara Group LLC. We specialize in helping regulated industries build assurance frameworks that are practical, tech-enabled, and future-proof.
