Are GRC Careers Appealing Enough to Early Talent?
For all the discussion around technology, resilience, regulation, geopolitics and the future of work, a question has been popping up on the radar here:
Are governance, risk and compliance careers appealing enough to the next generation of talent?
It is an important question because the need for real skill, judgment and leadership within these functions is not standing still. If anything, it is accelerating.
Across financial services and the wider corporate landscape, organisations are navigating an increasingly complex operating environment shaped by technological change, geopolitical instability, cyber risk, regulatory pressure and fast-moving expectations from stakeholders. That complexity is making governance, risk and compliance functions more strategically important, not less. Deloitte’s 2025 global internal audit outlook, for example, points to internal audit’s growing role across areas including GenAI, fraud risk, cybersecurity and workforce-related issues, while also noting that 82% of functions report increased impact. Yet only 14% believe they have realised their full potential.
That gap is telling.
It suggests these functions are already becoming more influential, but that there is still considerable room for organisations to strengthen how they build, position and develop them. And one part of that conversation deserves more attention: the future talent pipeline.
A function with growing importance, but not always enough visibility
Having spent more than two decades close to these markets, one of the clearest observations is that there has long been excellent talent in governance, risk and compliance — but not quite enough of it to meet demand, especially as roles become more senior and strategic.
At the top end of the market, organisations rarely want purely technical specialists. They are looking for individuals who are technically astute, but who can also speak the language of the business, manage multiple stakeholders, understand commercial realities and operate with influence and judgment under pressure.
That combination is demanding.
It also means these careers should arguably be marketed far more powerfully than they often are. Because for the right individual, they offer something quite distinctive: a chance to sit close to decision-making, shape how organisations are governed, navigate complex issues and become a trusted voice at the intersection of rules, risk, strategy and leadership.
Yet historically, many people have not set out to enter these fields deliberately. They have often arrived in them laterally: moving into compliance, finding their way into risk, or discovering the strategic depth of these careers after time elsewhere in the business.
That may need to change.
The early-talent story is still not strong enough
There is a strong case that organisations have not done enough to make GRC careers visibly attractive to early-career professionals from the outset.
That matters because these are not narrow or static professions. They are increasingly central to how organisations respond to change. In financial services especially, but also across major corporates, these functions help firms navigate regulation, operational resilience, cyber exposure, conduct, culture, governance and now AI-related accountability. PwC’s 2025 global compliance study in financial services found that 69% of respondents said new regulations, risks and business models were primary factors shaping their talent models, while 46% still prioritised industry knowledge and acumen as a key compliance skill.
In other words, the terrain is becoming broader, faster and more commercially significant.
That should make these careers more appealing.
But for many younger professionals, the entry point may still feel opaque. The unique appeal of these functions is not always articulated clearly enough. Nor is the fact that they can offer unusually rich development for people who are curious, resilient, strong communicators and interested in how organisations really work.
The skills that matter are bigger than technical knowledge alone
One of the risks in how GRC careers are perceived is that they can sound overly technical from the outside.
Technical capability is, of course, important. Early-career professionals need real grounding if they are to grow well. But technical skill alone has never been the full story, and it is even less so now.
The most successful people in these areas tend to build a broader professional identity over time. They learn how to have difficult conversations well. They develop resilience. They learn how to influence without alienating. They become commercially aware. They understand where governance meets reality. They begin to see that impact often comes not just from knowing the rule, but from knowing how to apply it intelligently in a live organisation.
That aligns with what employers say they value more broadly. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 found that analytical thinking remains the top core skill for employers, with seven in ten companies identifying it as essential, followed by resilience, flexibility, agility, leadership and social influence.
Those are not side notes for GRC careers. They are central to them.
And that is exactly why organisations should think harder about how these careers are introduced to younger talent. Not simply as technical disciplines, but as leadership tracks in the making.
The pipeline question is real
It is difficult not to be concerned about the future pipeline.
Like many professions, governance, risk and compliance now sit in an environment where organisations are moving quickly towards technology and AI to automate parts of work that may once have been considered routine, administrative or entry-level. There are clear efficiency gains in that. But there is also a longer-term talent question hiding underneath it.
If organisations automate away too much of the developmental layer, where will future leaders come from?
Deloitte’s 2025 Human Capital Trends reporting suggests that around two-thirds of hiring managers and executives believe entry-level hires are underprepared, with lack of experience identified as the main weakness. Its reporting also warns that automation can reduce opportunities for on-the-job development.
That feels particularly relevant here.
Because careers in risk, compliance, audit and related controls functions are not built only through classroom learning or qualifications. They are built through exposure: seeing how issues arise, understanding how decisions land, learning to communicate with different stakeholders, and gradually developing the instinct that later becomes judgment.
If too much of that early layer disappears, organisations may find that they have improved short-term efficiency while weakening their long-term leadership bench.
AI can help - but it can also get in the way
The role of AI in early-career development is not one-sided.
Used well, it can be helpful. It can give younger professionals easier access to information, support learning, help them structure ideas, improve written communication and make them more technologically fluent in ways that are genuinely useful to the wider business. Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index, based on a survey of 31,000 workers across 31 markets, reflects how quickly AI is being woven into working life and how significantly it may reshape the way careers evolve.
But there is another side to this.
If AI begins to replace too much of the foundational work through which professionals learn the substance of a role, it may deprive both individuals and organisations of something important. It may make people look polished before they are deeply grounded. It may accelerate output without building depth. And over time, it may contribute to the very “hollowing out” of careers that many leaders say they want to avoid.
That is why good organisations will need to strike a balance.
They will want to deploy AI intelligently and modernise with confidence, but without cutting people out of the developmental experiences that allow them to grow into credible future leaders.
The best organisations will make these careers feel meaningful
This is not only about preserving jobs. It is about building functions that can stand the test of time.
People remain the beating heart of organisations and their cultures. In GRC functions, that matters especially because the work often depends on trust, judgment, communication and moral courage. These qualities do not appear overnight, and they do not develop by accident. They need nurturing.
The Risk Management Society’s Risk Management Talent 2025 Report found that the supply of prepared risk professionals is not meeting demand, and that 94% of respondents agreed risk management professionals would need to develop new skills to meet future challenges.
That points to something larger than recruitment difficulty. It points to an opportunity for employers to tell a better story, design stronger development paths and help younger professionals understand just how significant these careers can become.
Because for individuals who want work that is intellectually stretching, strategically relevant and increasingly central to the future of business, GRC has a great deal to offer.
What younger professionals should understand
For early-career talent, there is a real opportunity here.
These functions are not sidelines. They are not merely back-office disciplines. They are increasingly tied to where organisations want to go, how they govern themselves and how they navigate the most important issues of the day.
So the challenge for younger professionals is not just to learn the technical side, though that matters. It is also to switch on a leadership mindset early. Seek out a mentor. Build communication capability. Learn how to speak to different audiences. Develop the confidence to ask good questions. Understand the commercial context, not just the rulebook. Make it your business to become someone who can connect governance with action.
Those are the qualities that help people stand out.
They are also the qualities that make these careers more meaningful and more future-proof.
What employers should think about next
For employers, the message is broadly similar in reverse.
If organisations want future Heads of Risk, Compliance Directors, Audit leaders and financially literate governance professionals who can guide businesses through technological and geopolitical complexity, they need to build those people more intentionally.
That means making these careers visible earlier. It means showing why they matter. It means investing in communication, leadership and stakeholder capability, not just technical training. And it means being thoughtful about where AI supports productivity and where it may unintentionally remove the very learning experiences on which future leadership depends.
The strongest organisations are unlikely to choose between technology and people.
They will understand that long-term success depends on both.
A career path worth noticing
Perhaps the deeper question is not whether GRC careers are “hard enough” or “easy enough” to enter.
It is whether we are doing enough to show how compelling they really are.
Because these functions sit at the heart of some of the most important issues facing organisations today. They require intellect, judgment, courage, curiosity, resilience and influence. They offer young professionals the opportunity to become trusted stewards of how organisations are run, how risk is understood and how progress happens responsibly.
That is not a small proposition.
And if the world ahead is going to demand more from governance, risk and compliance - which it almost certainly will - then making these careers more appealing to early talent is not just a recruitment issue it is a leadership issue. The future of GRC will not be secured by technology alone, it will depend on whether organisations can attract, grow and inspire the people who will lead these functions next.