The world of corporate compliance has long been viewed as a necessary evil - a bureaucratic maze that slows innovation and drains resources without adding tangible value. But what if that paradigm could be completely flipped? What if compliance could become a competitive advantage rather than a business blocker?

In a recent episode of Lead with AI, Samuel Solberg brings a unique perspective to this challenge. As a former corporate lawyer who describes himself as a "recovering lawyer," Solberg spent years navigating the complex world of big law, working on commercial deals primarily in the tech sector. His journey through the labyrinth of data processing agreements and GDPR compliance gave him firsthand experience with the pain points that plague modern businesses. This background, combined with his transition to privacy consulting and his role as an external data protection officer for global tech companies, positioned him perfectly to identify a massive gap in the market.

Today, as Co-founder and CEO of Hoggo, Solberg is transforming what companies approach vendor risk assessment and compliance. His AI-powered platform is turning what was once a months-long manual process into an automated system that delivers results in minutes. Through intelligent data collection and risk analysis, Hoggo is helping tech companies, fintech firms, and HR platforms streamline their compliance workflows while freeing legal teams to focus on strategic, high-value work.

The Compliance Pain Point That Built a Company  

The genesis of Hoggo stems from a fundamental disconnect that Solberg witnessed repeatedly during his consulting career. On one side, tech companies need to innovate rapidly to stay competitive in fast-moving markets. On the other side, compliance teams and data protection officers must ensure these innovations don't violate an increasingly complex web of regulations. This tension creates a scenario where legal teams often find themselves in the uncomfortable position of being the department that says "no" to promising initiatives.

Solberg observed that the amount of effort and resources companies were dedicating to third-party compliance was staggering. Teams would spend countless hours chasing questionnaires, reviewing contracts, and managing data processing agreements across multiple departments. The manual nature of this work meant that spreadsheets quickly became outdated, information lived in silos, and the same repetitive tasks had to be performed for every new vendor relationship. This inefficiency wasn't just costly in terms of time and money - it was actively hindering business growth.

The complexity of the compliance landscape only exacerbated these challenges. Unlike simple technological problems that can be solved with an API or a basic AI wrapper, compliance requires deep understanding of regulatory frameworks, business contexts, and risk assessment methodologies. Solberg recognized that any solution would need to be sophisticated enough to handle this complexity while remaining accessible to teams without specialized legal training. This realization became the foundation for Hoggo's approach to responsible innovation.

The Technology Behind Automated Risk Assessment  

What sets Hoggo apart from traditional compliance solutions is its innovative approach to data collection and analysis. Rather than requiring companies to manually gather information from their vendors, Hoggo takes a fundamentally different approach by collecting data from publicly available sources. The platform builds comprehensive profiles by scraping vendor websites, news outlets, and other public information sources to create a database of nearly 1,000 vendors that continues to grow.

This automated data collection process enables Hoggo to build detailed vendor profiles that include location information, third-party relationships, and other factors necessary for conducting thorough risk assessments. When combined with specific information about a client's use case, company size, sector, and geographic location, this data forms the foundation for personalized risk analysis. The platform can identify potential issues such as third-party processors operating in specific countries, and automatically generate alerts about required transfer mechanisms.

The sophistication of Hoggo's risk assessment goes beyond simple data aggregation. The platform provides not just identification of potential risks, but also specific mitigation steps and reasoning behind each risk flag. Different risk levels allow companies to make informed decisions about whether to accept, mitigate, or address identified concerns. This approach transforms compliance into a nuanced risk management process that supports business objectives while maintaining regulatory compliance.

The Human Element in AI-Driven Compliance  

Despite the advanced automation capabilities of Hoggo's platform, Solberg emphasizes that human oversight remains central to the company's approach. The platform maintains what he calls "human in the loop" verification for all significant results, outputs, and changes. This oversight is provided by experienced professionals with relevant certifications and expertise in the compliance field, ensuring that automated assessments meet the rigorous standards required in legal and regulatory contexts.

This philosophy extends to Hoggo's positioning in the market. Rather than seeking to replace legal counsels, data protection officers, or chief privacy officers, the platform is designed to augment their capabilities. By automating the manual, repetitive aspects of compliance work, Hoggo frees these professionals to focus on higher-value strategic activities that require human judgment and expertise. This approach addresses one of the key concerns about AI implementation in professional services - the fear that automation will eliminate jobs rather than enhance them.

The company's commitment to ethical AI practices is also reflected in their data handling policies. Since the beginning, Hoggo made the deliberate decision to avoid accessing any customer data or sensitive company information. Instead, the platform works with metadata and publicly available information, significantly reducing the potential ethical concerns associated with their operations. This approach not only addresses privacy concerns but also simplifies the compliance requirements for Hoggo's own operations.

The Future of Professional Development in an AI World  

One of the most thought-provoking aspects of Solberg's vision involves the potential impact of AI automation on professional development. He predicts that while AI will successfully eliminate much of the manual, repetitive work that currently consumes professional time, this shift creates an unexpected challenge for the development of future expertise. Traditionally, junior professionals in fields like law learn through performing these same manual tasks that AI is now automating.

Solberg draws an analogy to pilot training to illustrate this concern. Pilots must accumulate a certain number of hours flying manual aircraft before they're permitted to operate planes with autopilot systems. Moreover, they must regularly return to manual flying to maintain their skills. This requirement exists because understanding manual operations is essential for handling situations where automated systems fail. The same principle, Solberg argues, should apply to professional fields being transformed by AI.

The implications of this shift extend beyond individual career development to the broader sustainability of professional expertise. If junior lawyers, compliance officers, and other professionals no longer gain experience through manual work, their path to developing the foundational knowledge needed to become senior practitioners becomes unclear. This challenge suggests that organizations will need to develop new training methodologies that provide essential learning experiences without relying on the manual processes that AI has automated.

Here are the key benefits that early Hoggo adopters are experiencing:

• Time Savings: Risk assessments that previously took days or weeks now complete in minutes

• Comprehensive Coverage: Access to profiles of nearly 1,000 vendors with continuous updates

• Detailed Insights: Specific risk flags with mitigation steps and regulatory guidance

• Resource Optimization: Legal teams can focus on strategic work rather than administrative tasks

• Scalable Compliance: Consistent assessment processes that grow with business needs

• Real-time Updates: Ongoing monitoring of vendor changes and new risk factors

Experience the Future of Compliance Today  

The transformation that Hoggo represents in the compliance industry reflects a broader shift toward AI-enabled business processes that enhance rather than replace human capabilities. Organizations struggling with vendor risk assessment, third-party compliance, or the general administrative burden of regulatory requirements now have access to a solution that addresses both efficiency and effectiveness concerns.

The accessibility of Hoggo's platform makes it easy for interested organizations to explore its capabilities firsthand. The company offers a seven-day free trial that allows potential users to experience the platform's automated risk assessment features without any upfront commitment. Recognizing that different people have different preferences for learning about new technologies, Hoggo provides both self-serve trial options for those who prefer to explore independently and demonstration calls for those who want guided introductions to the platform's features.

Compliance professionals, legal teams, and business leaders who are curious about the potential of AI to transform their approach to vendor management and regulatory compliance can visit hoggo.io to see these innovations in action. As Solberg's journey demonstrates, the intersection of legal expertise and technological innovation holds tremendous potential for solving longstanding business challenges while creating new competitive advantages in an increasingly regulated business environment.

For more insights on how AI is transforming business and society, I invite you to subscribe to the Lead with AI podcast, where we explore the frontiers of artificial intelligence with the innovators who are shaping its development.