Third-Party Risk & GRC in Practice: Customer Forum 2026

Swiss GRC Customer Forum 2026: A full house at the Radisson Blu Hotel Lucerne. Swiss GRC customers heard first-hand case studies, saw new products and had plenty of time for personal conversations.

Lucerne, 29 October 2026. A full room, strong voices from practice and a clear message: GRC works when it becomes part of everyday business. At the Swiss GRC Customer Forum 2026, our customers Helvetia Baloise and PostFinance, guest speaker Dr. René Wettstein of EY and the Swiss GRC team showed how this works and what comes next: the new SwissGRC® Process Center and a platform where AI is built in from the start.

From 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, participants enjoyed an engaging programme, followed by personal conversations over an apéro, lunch and at the stands. The forum was opened by Gentian Ajeti, Chief Customer & Commercial Officer, and Michael Niedermann, Head Consulting at Swiss GRC. Michael Niedermann then took over as moderator and guided the audience through the morning.

Guest Keynote: Why Third-Party Risk Management Needs Rethinking

Guest speaker Dr. René Wettstein, Partner and Head Governance, Risk Management, Controls & Internal Audit at Ernst & Young, set the tone for the morning. He showed how much the requirements for managing third-party risks are changing and where organisations should now tighten their controls and processes.

For many companies, suppliers, service providers and partners have long been a central part of their own risk landscape. Those who only assess them at onboarding often spot changes too late. A strong start to a morning that was all about practice.

Helvetia Baloise: Security That Becomes Part of Everyday Work

How does a security programme become everyday routine? Bruno Freschi, Deputy Group CISO at Helvetia Baloise, answered first-hand: with clear responsibilities, robust processes and genuine acceptance across the business.

It was particularly impressive to see how connected the GRC solution at Helvetia Baloise is. Bruno Freschi showed how many interfaces to existing tools are already in operation. This is made possible by the REST API of the SwissGRC® platform, which can connect to almost any system. GRC is therefore not an island next to operations, but sits right in the middle of the existing IT landscape.

PostFinance: Successful GRC Starts Before the First Click

Mirko Hegi, OpRisk/ICS Expert and Product Owner GRC Tool at PostFinance, gave an open insight into his organisation’s GRC set-up: How are roles, committees and responsibilities structured, and how do the departments involved work together day to day?

For implementation, PostFinance relies on Swiss GRC. Mirko Hegi made it clear that they see Swiss GRC as an implementation expert and a partner on an equal footing.

His most important advice to anyone introducing a GRC solution: do your homework. A carefully prepared concept or requirements specification is the foundation of every successful implementation. That way, Swiss GRC knows exactly what the organisation needs and can tailor the solution precisely.

New at Swiss GRC: Process Center and AI Built In from the Start

After the coffee break, the stage belonged to the Swiss GRC team. Daniel Arnold, Chief Product Officer, and Johannes Weiser, Head Customer Success & Support, showed live what is new on the SwissGRC® platform and where the journey is heading.

The focus was on the SwissGRC® Process Center, which Swiss GRC launched on 1 October 2026. The new Business Process Management solution lets organisations model, document and evolve their business processes centrally, including BPMN 2.0 modelling, reviews and approvals. The key difference: processes are linked directly to risks, controls, IT systems and data. This creates a holistic view of the organisation and makes the impact of changes visible immediately.

One message ran through the entire presentation: Swiss GRC is AI-native. Artificial intelligence has been part of the platform from the very beginning, not added on afterwards. In the Process Center, for example, it helps analyse existing documentation, create process models and identify potential for improvement.

There is also plenty happening in everyday use of the platform: large volumes of data can now be imported and exported in the background without interrupting work. To close, Johannes Weiser and the team answered questions from the audience, directly and to the point.

Would you like to see the Process Center in action? There will be a detailed live demo at the SWISS PROCESS DAY on 11 November 2026 in Zurich.

Demos, Networking and Honest Conversations

After the official part, things continued at the stands. Participants got live demonstrations of the latest SwissGRC® platform features, asked their own questions and talked with the experts behind their solution.

Over the apéro and lunch, many conversations developed among customers. It is exactly this peer-to-peer exchange that makes the Swiss GRC Customer Forum special.

Three Takeaways from the Swiss GRC Customer Forum

Connected, not isolated. GRC has the greatest impact where it is connected to existing systems.

Good preparation pays off. A clear concept on the customer side is the basis of every successful implementation.

AI belongs in the foundation. Building AI in from the start creates real value instead of just extra features.

A big thank you to all participants for attending and for their open feedback. Special thanks go to our guest speaker Dr. René Wettstein and to Bruno Freschi and Mirko Hegi for their practical insights. We are already looking forward to the next Swiss GRC Customer Forum.