Insights by Denis Oproescu

External vendor risk falls into six categories: limited visibility into the work, misalignment with business goals, cost and scope drift, security and compliance exposure, lock-in through undocumented systems and, since 2025, provenance risk in AI-assisted code. The first five are managed through contracts, defined KPIs, milestone-based payment and documented knowledge transfer. The sixth is newer and most buyers are not yet asking about it. Third-party involvement in breaches reached 48% of all breaches in the 2026 Verizon DBIR, up from 30% the year before, which makes vendor governance a board-level concern rather than a procurement detail.

Innovation within a corporate setting is a balancing act. On one side, you have structured processes, established hierarchies, and compliance requirements that keep the company running smoothly. On the other, there’s the need to experiment, adapt quickly, and take calculated risks to stay ahead in a fast-moving market.