shape
SHIELD
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.

SDLC V-Model Compliance

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

POLICY-AS-CODE

SDLC Governance for the AI Era

Policy-as-code enforcement across the AI-powered SDLC — from plan to production in four governed phases.

1

Plan & Design

Policy templates enforce standards before code is written

2

Code & Build

Gates validate human-created and AI-generated code against compliance requirements

3

Test & Review

Automated checks — no vibe-coded app bypasses QA

4

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

Compliance governance, end to end

ONBOARDING

Compliance Foundation

Applicable to any compliance offering

1

Connect

Integrate Shield with Archer or similar GRC platform

2

Ingest

Import full compliance framework — policies, standards, requirements, controls

3

QC & Validate

AI detects conflicts, duplicates, and misalignments. Findings pushed to human actors with AI-recommended actions

4

Create Controls

Create or update controls — AI-assisted or traditional. Map to standards and requirements

5

Define Metrics

Establish KPIs with red / yellow / green thresholds for continuous monitoring

6

CMDB + Profiles

Connect to CMDB. Define application and CI compliance profiles

7

Release Manifest

Dev teams add a release manifest per release pointing to SDLC artifacts for review at deploy time

USE

SDLC Enforcement

Shield applies the compliance foundation to the software delivery lifecycle

1

Deploy Gate

At deployment, selected controls for the app profile are executed automatically

2

Approve / Stop

Deployment approved or blocked. Compliance findings recorded for audit trail

3

Incident + Exceed

If stopped: incident created, interested parties notified. Exceed generates remediation steps

4

Dashboards

All compliance data in real-time dashboards. When metrics breach thresholds, AI generates recommendations

CONTINUOUS LOOP

Dashboards drive metric-based recommendations

→ Controls updated → Exceed upskills teams → Compliance improves → Repeat

The Closed-Loop Between SHIELD and EXCEED

SHIELD

SHIELD

EXCEED

EXCEED

1

Define Compliance Framework

Policies, Standards, Requirements, Controls

Change requiring updated capabilities
5

Compliance to Capabilities

Roles, Skills, Micro-skills, Assessments, Learning Content

2

Enforce Controls in Pipelines

AI-powered automated gates block non-compliant deployments

Compliance failure patterns & root causes
6

Map Skill Gaps

Deployed Assessments reveal capability deficits

3

Capture Evidence & Information

Requirements, Design Documents, Scan Results, Approvals, Traceability

Non-compliance and failed deployment frequency data
7

Deliver Learning

AI-deployed personalized paths via Jira, Slack, Teams

4

Score & Analyze

Risk scoring identifies failure patterns, makes operating recommendations

Skill trend data for risk model refinement
8

Measure Proficiency

Continuous skill benchmarking and progress

SHIELD

SHIELD

1

Define Compliance Framework

Policies, Standards, Requirements, Controls

2

Enforce Controls in Pipelines

AI-powered automated gates block non-compliant deployments

3

Capture Evidence & Information

Requirements, Design Documents, Scan Results, Approvals, Traceability

4

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

EXCEED

5

Compliance to Capabilities

Roles, Skills, Micro-skills, Assessments, Learning Content

6

Map Skill Gaps

Deployed Assessments reveal capability deficits

7

Deliver Learning

AI-deployed personalized paths via Jira, Slack, Teams

8

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.

Use SHIELD On Its Own

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.

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.

Schedule a Demo