Your compliance requirements are real. Your operating system for meeting them should be too.

Most companies treat governance and compliance like a documentation project. We treat it like infrastructure. Henlopen IT and Compliance builds the operating systems that turn security, privacy, and AI compliance requirements into repeatable, auditable, daily operations — so your team stops reacting and starts running a real program.

What we build

Every engagement starts with your business context and ends with operational controls your team can run. Frameworks support the work — they don't define it.

AI

AI Governance Programs

ISO 42001 · EU AI Act

Get ahead of regulators and customer expectations by building a structured AI governance program — not a policy doc that sits in a shared drive. We help you inventory AI usage, classify risk, and implement controls that map to real regulatory requirements.

  • Complete AI inventory with risk-tiered classification
  • Governance framework aligned to ISO 42001 and EU AI Act obligations
  • AI vendor evaluation criteria and procurement guardrails
  • Board and leadership-ready reporting on AI risk posture
Sec

Security Program Design

ISO 27001 · SOC 2

Close deals faster and survive customer due diligence by building a security program with real controls behind it. We design, implement, and prepare you for certification — not just the audit, but the operating rhythm that makes compliance sustainable.

  • SOC 2 Type I / Type II readiness with evidence pipeline design
  • ISO 27001 ISMS implementation and internal audit preparation
  • Control mapping across frameworks to eliminate duplicate effort
  • Vendor risk management lifecycle and third-party assessment programs
Prv

Privacy Operations

HIPAA · GDPR

Turn privacy from a legal liability into an operational capability. We build the data handling processes, access controls, and incident response structures that keep you compliant with HIPAA and GDPR in practice — not just in policy language.

  • HIPAA security and privacy rule operationalization
  • GDPR data mapping, DPIAs, and controller/processor alignment
  • Breach response playbooks and incident management workflows
  • Privacy program design for regulated data environments

Built for companies in motion

We work with organizations that have outgrown ad hoc compliance but aren't ready — or don't need — a full-time Head of Security or GRC team.

01

SaaS companies preparing for SOC 2 or ISO 27001

You need to pass an audit, but more importantly, you need a security program that actually works once the auditor leaves.

02

Teams formalizing AI governance

You're deploying AI in production and need an inventory, risk classification, and a governance structure that satisfies ISO 42001 or the EU AI Act.

03

Organizations handling regulated or sensitive data

HIPAA, GDPR, CFTC — you're operating under real regulatory obligations and need operational controls, not just awareness training.

04

Companies that need senior compliance leadership without a full-time hire

You want the strategic judgment and technical depth of a seasoned security and compliance leader, scoped to what your business actually needs right now.

How it works

Every engagement follows the same structure. We assess what exists, design what's needed, build the operating system, and make sure your team can run it without us.

1

Assess

Map your current state against the framework that matters — what exists, what's missing, where the real exposure lives. No boilerplate questionnaires.

2

Architect

Design governance structures, policies, and control frameworks sized to your business — not to a template built for a company ten times your size.

3

Operationalize

Wire controls into your actual tools and workflows. Evidence collection becomes automatic. Compliance becomes part of how work gets done, not a separate project.

4

Transfer

Train your team, document the operating rhythm, and hand over a program you can sustain — through audits, growth, regulatory changes, and new hires.

What makes this different

We've built security and compliance programs across 20+ organizations. Here's what we've learned matters most.

We build systems, not slide decks

You don't need a 90-page readiness assessment. You need policies that connect to controls, controls that connect to evidence, and a team that knows how to run the cycle. That's what we deliver.

Governance that keeps pace with growth

The program we build for a 40-person Series A company won't be the same one we'd build for a 200-person Series C. We design for where you are and where you're headed — not for a compliance fantasy.

Technical depth behind every recommendation

We came up through IT operations and security engineering — not accounting or legal. When we write a control, we know what implementing it actually requires from your engineering team.

One senior operator, not a team of junior analysts

You work directly with an experienced practitioner who's done this across healthcare IT, financial platforms, SaaS, and AI-native companies. No hand-offs, no staff rotation, no learning on your dime.

What this work looks like in practice

A sample of the types of programs we've built and the work we do. No fake logos. No inflated numbers. Just the work.

SOC 2 readiness and remediation programs
ISO 27001 ISMS design and implementation
AI governance program design with regulatory mapping
HIPAA privacy and security rule operationalization
Vendor risk management lifecycle design
AI inventory and risk classification for regulated entities
Security questionnaire response systems and processes
EU AI Act compliance assessment and gap analysis
Incident response and breach notification frameworks

Founder-led. Operator-built.

Henlopen IT and Compliance was founded by a practitioner who's spent twenty years building, fixing, and running IT and security programs — from rack-and-stack infrastructure to cloud-native SaaS platforms, from HIPAA-regulated health systems to CFTC-registered financial entities.

This isn't an advisory firm that came out of a Big Four consultancy. It came out of doing the work — writing the policies, mapping the controls, sitting in the audit rooms, and explaining to boards why the security program does or doesn't hold up. That experience shows in how we scope engagements, what we prioritize, and what we don't waste time on.

We work directly with founders, CTOs, and operations leaders at growth-stage companies who need governance and compliance programs that are structurally sound without being operationally burdensome. If you need someone who can translate between your engineering team, your legal counsel, your auditor, and your board — that's what we do.

Credentials & Background

CISSP Certified
ITIL Certified
20+ vCISO Engagements
AI Governance — ISO 42001, EU AI Act
HIPAA-Regulated IT Management
CFTC-Regulated Platform Experience
U.S. Military Veteran

Schedule a discovery meeting

30 minutes. No pitch deck. Just a real conversation about what you need.

Tell us where you are and where you need to be — whether that's SOC 2 readiness, AI governance, HIPAA operations, or just getting a clear picture of your compliance exposure. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit and what the engagement would look like.

Schedule a Discovery Meeting
What to expect: We respond within one business day. Discovery meetings are 30 minutes, focused on understanding your situation. If there's a fit, you'll get a scoped proposal — not a generic SOW.