Tech Talks: Justin Pagano, Senior Director GRC Engineering, Vanta

Justin Pagano was on a phone call when he opened his investment app, and a banner appeared: we’re not calling you, and we’d never ask for this. No block, no extra step, just a nudge at the exact moment a scam would land. It’s a small thing that raises a big question for every tech leader: when does protection help people, and when does it just get in their way?

Justin, Senior Director of GRC Engineering at Vanta, argues that most governance still runs on PDFs and point-in-time snapshots that can’t keep pace with cloud-scale systems or AI. We unpack why risk rarely lands with the business, how layered defences work like seatbelts and airbags, what’s lurking in your shadow AI inventory, and why fixating on risk for its own sake can quietly wreck the outcome you were protecting. Press play if your controls look fine on paper.