STACKFACTOR SHIELD
Automated SDLC Compliance
for the AI Era
Policy-as-code enforcement across the AI-powered SDLC. SHIELD automates governance, enforces deployment gates, and delivers audit-ready evidence — so your teams ship safely at machine speed.
Stop failing audits. Automate SDLC compliance.
Your team ships code daily. Without automated governance, you're shipping risk at machine speed. You need to prove every release is compliant.
No Policy Gates
AI writes your code — but nobody checks it against your standards before it ships.
Skipped Security Scans
Vibe-coded apps bypass security scanning and compliance validation entirely.
No Audit Trail
No traceability from prompt to code to production. Auditors ask — you scramble.
The Result
Code ships at machine speed. Your compliance process is still manual, slow, and reactive.
StackFactor SHIELD Delivers.
Minutes
to pull audit evidence, not months
Zero
manual gate reviews needed
100%
deployment traceability from code to production
SDLC Governance for the AI Era
Policy-as-code enforcement across the AI-powered SDLC — from plan to production in four governed phases.
Plan & Design
Policy templates enforce standards before code is written
Code & Build
Gates validate human-created and AI-generated code against compliance requirements
Test & Review
Automated checks — no vibe-coded app bypasses QA
Deploy & Monitor
Prompt-to-production traceability, audit-ready evidence
SHIELD Capabilities
Policies, Standards, Requirements codified and version-controlled in one place
Deployment gate enforcement blocking non-compliant changes before production
Full SDLC traceability from RFC to production with immutable evidence
AI-powered risk scoring identifying failure patterns and operating recommendations
Governance dashboards real-time compliance posture for leadership
Multi-framework profiles SOC 2, SOX, NIST, ISO 27001, PCI DSS and more
25+ tool connectors integrating with your existing CI/CD and DevOps stack
Immutable audit trails reporting-ready evidence for regulators and auditors
How SHIELD Works
Policy-as-code from prompt to production
The result: every release ships with signed proof of which controls applied and whether they passed — audit-ready from day one.
Compliance Foundation
One-time setup that applies to any compliance framework
Connect
Integrate Shield with your GRC platform (Archer, ServiceNow, etc.)
Ingest
Import your full compliance framework — policies, standards, requirements, controls
QC & Validate
AI detects conflicts, duplicates, and misalignments. Findings pushed to human actors with AI-recommended actions
Create Controls
Create or update controls — AI-assisted or traditional. Map to standards and requirements
Define Metrics
Establish KPIs with red / yellow / green thresholds for continuous monitoring
CMDB + Profiles
Connect to CMDB. Define application and CI compliance profiles
SDLC Enforcement
Every release validated against your controls automatically
Release ManifestKEY CONCEPT
Dev teams attach a release manifest per release pointing to SDLC artifacts — this is the bridge between development and compliance
Deploy Gate
At deployment, selected controls for the app profile are executed automatically against the manifest
Approve / Stop
Deployment approved or blocked. Compliance findings recorded with full audit trail
Incident + Remediation
If stopped: incident created, interested parties notified. EXCEED — StackFactor’s Talent Intelligence Platform — generates targeted remediation training
Dashboards & Recommendations
All compliance data in real-time dashboards. When metrics breach thresholds, AI generates operating recommendations
Dashboards drive metric-based recommendations
→ Controls updated → EXCEED upskills teams on the gaps that caused failures → Compliance improves → Repeat
The Closed-Loop Between SHIELD and EXCEED
SHIELD
EXCEED
Define Compliance Framework
Policies, Standards, Requirements, Controls
Compliance to Capabilities
Roles, Skills, Micro-skills, Assessments, Learning Content
Enforce Controls in Pipelines
AI-powered automated gates block non-compliant deployments
Map Skill Gaps
Deployed Assessments reveal capability deficits
Capture Evidence & Information
Requirements, Design Documents, Scan Results, Approvals, Traceability
Deliver Learning
AI-deployed personalized paths via Jira, Slack, Teams
Score & Analyze
Risk scoring identifies failure patterns, makes operating recommendations
Measure Proficiency
Continuous skill benchmarking and progress
SHIELD
Define Compliance Framework
Policies, Standards, Requirements, Controls
Enforce Controls in Pipelines
AI-powered automated gates block non-compliant deployments
Capture Evidence & Information
Requirements, Design Documents, Scan Results, Approvals, Traceability
Score & Analyze
Risk scoring identifies failure patterns, makes operating recommendations
SHIELD → EXCEED
Changes requiring updated capabilities
Compliance failure patterns & root causes
Non-compliance and failed deployment frequency data
EXCEED → SHIELD
Skill trend data for risk model refinement
EXCEED
Compliance to Capabilities
Roles, Skills, Micro-skills, Assessments, Learning Content
Map Skill Gaps
Deployed Assessments reveal capability deficits
Deliver Learning
AI-deployed personalized paths via Jira, Slack, Teams
Measure Proficiency
Continuous skill benchmarking and progress
SHARED INTELLIGENCE LAYER
Executive dashboards aggregate both compliance posture and workforce readiness into a unified ROI view — proving that training investments directly reduce compliance risk.
A perfect fit ... Use what you need now, grow at any time
SHIELD is a complete SDLC compliance platform on its own. Enforce policies, gate deployments, score risk, and generate audit-ready evidence — all without adopting EXCEED. When you're ready to close the loop with talent readiness, EXCEED plugs right in.
Get Started with SHIELD →Stand-Alone Ready
Deploy SHIELD on its own.
Works With Your Stack
Plugs into your existing CI/CD with 25+ tool connectors and any compliance framework.
Future-Proof
Add EXCEED later when you're ready to close the loop with talent readiness.
What SHIELD Means for Your Team
Compliance doesn't have to slow you down.
Ship Faster
Automated compliance gates replace manual CAB reviews. Your team stops waiting and starts shipping.
Fewer Blocked Deployments
Engineers see policy requirements before they code — not after they try to deploy. Fewer surprises, fewer rollbacks.
No More Compliance Scrambles
Evidence is collected automatically at every pipeline stage. When auditors ask, you click — not scramble.
Engineers Stay in Flow
Shield runs in your existing CI/CD tools. No new dashboards to learn, no context switching, no extra steps.
Where compliance is non-negotiable
Ready to Automate SDLC Compliance?
See how SHIELD enforces policy-as-code across your CI/CD pipelines, delivers audit-ready evidence, and keeps your teams shipping safely at AI speed.
Get Early Access