The 9 Best AI Security and Compliance Partners for Private Equity in 2027

State of AI Security and Compliance Partners in 2027

AI governance in private equity is about to get tested. The SEC Division of Examinations' 2026 priorities put artificial intelligence near the top of the list, including whether advisers' statements about their AI use are accurate. In Europe, the Digital Omnibus on AI entered into force on 27 July 2026 and pushed the Annex III high-risk deadline to 2 December 2027. The deadline moved. It did not go away. Meanwhile portfolio companies are rolling out Claude, Copilot and their first agents faster than anyone is writing the rules for them. The most common mistake we see is a fund-level AI policy that never reaches the portcos, or a governance deck that nobody turns into actual configuration. An AI security and compliance partner closes that gap before your portcos scale AI, which is far cheaper than closing it after an incident or an exam.

We built this list against what a sponsor actually needs from an AI security and compliance partner: someone who understands MNPI and LP scrutiny, who can write the policy and also configure the controls, and who keeps watching after launch. The category mixes two kinds of firms. Advisory firms design governance programs, test controls and prepare you for regulators. Technical security vendors attack your models and agents to find what breaks. We say which is which in every entry. We left out pure software platforms, such as Credo AI, because they sell governance software rather than people who do the work. We also left out firms whose AI governance offering we could not tie to a public services page. Nine firms remain.

TL:DR; — Top AI Security and Compliance Firms

1. PressW: AI security, compliance and governance delivered as part of an ongoing managed AI service, by the same Claude-first team that deploys and runs the systems. Built for PE firms and their portfolio companies.
2. ACA Group: The compliance firm private fund managers already use, with a dedicated AI risk and governance practice that names PE managers and their portfolio companies as clients.
3. Kroll: A PE cyber practice that runs from diligence through exit, plus hands-on LLM penetration testing from its offensive security team.

Key Advantages of Working With an AI Security and Compliance Partner

Most funds already have an AI policy. Very few have one that anyone enforces.

Ocorian's 2026 survey of 300 senior executives at PE fund managers found that 69% use AI for compliance and regulatory reporting, yet only one in 20 has formal policies for AI in compliance and regulation. The agent problem is sharper. Deloitte's August 2026 announcement cites its own research: about three-quarters of companies plan to deploy agentic AI within two years, and only 21% have a mature governance model for autonomous agents.

Here is what a real partner changes.

Policy turns into configuration. A policy that says "no MNPI in public AI tools" means nothing until SSO, seat assignment, data retention settings and admin controls enforce it. A good partner writes the rule and then sets the switch.

Deal data stays where it belongs. Information barriers between deal teams, portcos and the data room have to hold inside AI tools too. That means deciding which connectors an AI tool can reach, what it retains, and who can see the output.

Shadow AI gets a sanctioned alternative. PagerDuty's June 2026 survey found 66% of office professionals had used AI tools at work that they believed were not permitted. The fix that works is a secure, licensed tool that people actually want to use.

Agents get scoped permissions. An agent that can read the CRM, send email and update the ERP is a new kind of privileged user. Somebody has to define what it can touch, test what happens when it gets a malicious prompt, and keep a human approval gate on anything that matters.

LP and regulator questions have answers on file. LPs now ask about AI in diligence, and examiners ask whether your AI claims match reality. A partner keeps the evidence current, so the answer is a document you already have.

How We Ranked These Firms

Five things, weighted in this order:

1. PE fluency. Does the firm understand MNPI, deal-team information barriers, SEC exam expectations and LP diligence? Does it name private equity managers or portfolio companies as clients?
2. Governance plus implementation. Can it write the policy, map it to NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001 or the EU AI Act, and then configure the controls? A policy deck alone ranks lower.
3. Technical depth on LLMs and agents. Does it test for prompt injection, data leakage and agent permission abuse, or only review documents?
4. Ongoing monitoring. Does it watch usage, re-test and refresh evidence after launch, or hand over a report and leave?
5. Fit for a mid-market portfolio company. A $50M to $500M revenue business needs a different motion than a Fortune 100 risk program.

1. PressW

The managed AI partner that governs Claude from the same seat it deploys and runs it, for funds and their portcos.

We put AI Security, Compliance & Governance inside our Managed AI Services practice on purpose. Governance written by one firm and configured by another tends to drift apart within a quarter. As Tarun puts it, we're kind of like an IT MSP, but for AI. The team that handles Claude Deployment, Configuration & Maintenance and Claude License Management also owns the controls around it, so the policy and the actual settings stay in sync. Everything runs through TransformationOS, our methodology for rapid AI transformation.

The second half of governance is proof. Our proprietary Argos platform gives sponsors and portco leaders transparent reporting on usage analytics, adoption metrics and management of AI across the organization. That is the visibility you need to spot shadow AI and to answer an LP question with data. For agents, our forward-deployed engineers build evals, telemetry and human approval gates into every one, and they interview the people who do the work before anything gets automated.

Managed AI Services: Claude Deployment, Configuration & Maintenance, Custom Claude Agent & Workflow Development, Claude License Management, Token & Usage Analytics, Token Optimization, AI Security, Compliance & Governance, AI Training & Support

AI Transformation: AI & Data Readiness Assessment, Forward Deployed AI Engineering, Custom AI Application & Platform Development, Data Engineering, Data Lake Build Out, AI Change Management

Standout Clients: Lorient Capital, Coustier Advisory (see the recent Claude case study), S3 Ventures

Best For: PE firms and portfolio companies standardizing on Claude that want governance, deployment and ongoing monitoring handled by one accountable team.

Why Choose PressW:

• SOC 2 Type II certified and an Official Anthropic Partner, with a team of 100% Anthropic-certified forward-deployed engineers.
• Governance sits inside an ongoing managed service, so controls get maintained after launch instead of decaying in a shared drive.
• Argos reporting, plus evals, telemetry and human approval gates in every agent, gives you evidence for LPs and regulators.

Keep in Mind: We're a boutique, so a sponsor that needs a global risk program across dozens of countries on day one will find a Big Four firm a better shape. We're also Claude-first. If most of your AI exposure sits in other models or classic machine learning, a broader security vendor further down this list covers more of that surface. And we are not a certification body. If you want ISO/IEC 42001 certification, you still need an independent auditor like Schellman.

2. ACA Group

Advisory firm. The compliance shop private fund managers already know, with an AI governance practice on top.

ACA Group is a governance, risk and compliance advisor to financial services firms. It says it has more than 1,280 employees and over 6,130 clients worldwide. Its AI Risk and Governance Services cover four steps: establish governance with clear ownership, policies and oversight, assess AI risk, implement proportionate controls, and prepare for regulatory scrutiny. The client list on that page names private markets directly: private equity, private credit, venture, infrastructure and real estate managers, and their portfolio companies.

The firm also has a technical arm. ACA Aponix handles cybersecurity risk assessments, vendor due diligence, penetration testing and privacy work under SEC Regulation S-P. ACA uses AI in its own products as well. It launched Encore AI, an engine built for regulatory compliance, in 2025, and added AI marketing review to ComplianceAlpha in February 2026. Back in 2024, a joint ACA Aponix and NSCP survey found most financial services firms lacked formal AI governance frameworks, testing protocols and third-party oversight.

The public pages do not show whether ACA configures AI tools or tests models itself, or advises others who do. Ask.

Services: AI risk and governance advisory, AI risk assessment, controls implementation, regulatory exam readiness, cybersecurity assessments and penetration testing through ACA Aponix, vendor due diligence, ComplianceAlpha

Standout Clients: None named publicly for AI governance work.

Best For: Fund managers who want AI governance run by the same firm that already supports their SEC compliance program.

Why Choose ACA Group:

• The deepest regulatory fluency with private fund managers on this list
• An AI governance page that names PE managers and portfolio companies as clients
• Compliance, cybersecurity and privacy under one roof

Keep in Mind: ACA is compliance-first. For agent permission design, LLM red teaming or the hands-on configuration of a Claude or Copilot rollout at a portco, expect to pair it with a technical partner. No AI governance case study is public.

3. Kroll

Advisory and technical. PE cyber coverage across the deal cycle, plus hands-on LLM penetration testing.

Kroll is one of the few firms here that does both advisory and offensive testing. Its private equity cybersecurity practice runs from pre-acquisition diligence through the hold period and exit, with one advisory relationship that follows each portfolio company and reporting against a common control framework. Its cyber due diligence estimates the financial impact of a target's security gaps before the deal closes.

The AI work is concrete. In AI security testing, Kroll's offensive security team probes LLM applications with adversarial prompts and uses a developer questionnaire to cover parts it cannot reach from outside. Kroll reports that 92% of its assessments with LLM findings included prompt injection. The testing runs inside a web application penetration test and can be bought through Kroll's cyber risk retainer. Its AI risk management materials also describe governance program design, continuous monitoring of deployed models, and managed execution of AI governance programs.

Services: PE cybersecurity across the deal cycle, cyber due diligence, AI and LLM security testing, red teaming, tabletop exercises, AI governance program design, cyber risk retainer

Standout Clients: None named publicly for AI work.

Best For: Sponsors who want one firm to diligence a target's AI exposure, test customer-facing AI products, and keep reporting on it across the hold.

Why Choose Kroll:

• PE-specific cyber practice that spans diligence, hold and exit
• Real LLM penetration testing with published findings on prompt injection
• Incident response depth if something goes wrong anyway

Keep in Mind: Kroll scopes LLM testing as part of a web application test, so it fits customer-facing AI products best. An internal Claude or Copilot rollout raises more configuration questions than exploit questions, and that work may need a different scope. Kroll publishes no named AI governance case study.

4. KPMG

Advisory and assurance. An ISO/IEC 42001-certified firm with a Trusted AI framework and a stated PE focus.

KPMG in the US earned ISO/IEC 42001 certification on 18 November 2025, audited by Schellman, and points clients to its AI Assurance and KPMG AI Trust services. A firm that went through the standard itself is useful when your portco wants to do the same. In Germany, KPMG expanded Trusted AI with AI assurance audits in October 2025, covering model validation, bias analysis and traceability of decision paths.

The PE link runs through KPMG's global alliance with Anthropic, announced in May 2026. Its stated initial focus is tax clients and private equity firms, and governance for that work sits inside the Trusted AI framework.

Services: Trusted AI framework, AI Assurance, KPMG AI Trust, ISO/IEC 42001 readiness, model validation and bias testing, AI risk advisory

Standout Clients: None named publicly for AI governance work.

Best For: Large-cap sponsors who already use KPMG and want AI assurance that will satisfy an audit committee.

Why Choose KPMG:

• Went through ISO/IEC 42001 certification itself
• Assurance-grade testing of models for fairness and traceability
• Private equity named as an initial focus of its Anthropic alliance

Keep in Mind: If KPMG audits your fund or portco, independence rules can limit what it is allowed to build or run for you, so raise that in the first meeting. Engagements are shaped for large enterprises. No PE-specific AI governance case study is public.

5. Deloitte

Advisory and assurance. A dedicated AI diligence offer for PE, and a growing AI controls practice.

Deloitte runs an AI due diligence service for private equity that assesses how AI is reshaping a target's market and whether the company's own AI capabilities, data and talent can defend its position. It ties AI use cases to EBITDA during the hold and to exit valuation. That is a diligence product, and it gives you a governance baseline on day one of ownership.

On the controls side, Deloitte expanded its AI Controls and Assurance services in August 2026 to cover the full AI lifecycle, aligned to its Trustworthy AI framework. A week earlier it launched ControlCatalyst.AI, a suite that applies generative and agentic AI to internal audit, SOX and risk and controls work.

Services: AI due diligence for private equity, AI Controls and Assurance, Trustworthy AI framework, ControlCatalyst.AI, internal audit and SOX

Standout Clients: None named publicly for AI governance work.

Best For: Sponsors who want AI risk assessed at diligence and then tested by the same firm through the hold.

Why Choose Deloitte:

• An AI diligence offer built specifically for private equity
• Lifecycle AI controls and assurance tied to a published framework
• Internal audit and SOX depth for portcos heading toward an IPO

Keep in Mind: The PE diligence offer and the AI controls practice sit on separate pages, and we found nothing public that joins them into one PE governance program. Audit independence limits apply here too. Pricing and minimum engagement size are not disclosed.

6. Protiviti

Advisory. Risk and internal audit DNA, with AI governance and a PE offering on the same menu.

Protiviti comes from risk consulting and internal audit, and its AI pitch leans on governance and safeguards. Its AI services page lists a private equity offering that covers AI across portfolio operations and decision-making, alongside risk and governance. A Protiviti listing on the UK government's Digital Marketplace describes an AI and Model Assurance service with governance across the full lifecycle, from proof of concept through development, QA and continuous monitoring.

The firm also writes for sponsors. Its Private Equity Insights newsletter for Q4 2025 argues that governance reform, AI disruption and cyber threats now arrive together and call for a new playbook.

Services: AI governance, AI and model assurance, AI risk assessment, internal audit, private equity advisory, cybersecurity consulting

Standout Clients: None named publicly; Protiviti cites an anonymized multinational hospitality company.

Best For: Portfolio companies that already use Protiviti for internal audit or SOX and want AI controls tested the same way.

Why Choose Protiviti:

• Internal audit heritage suits control testing and monitoring
• Lifecycle model assurance that includes continuous monitoring
• A named private equity offering on the AI services page

Keep in Mind: We found no ISO/IEC 42001 practice and no technical LLM red teaming offer in Protiviti's public materials. Its PE AI offering reads broad, so ask for a governance-specific scope and a named reference.

7. HiddenLayer

Technical security vendor. AI red teaming and risk assessments from a company that builds AI security software.

HiddenLayer sells an AI security platform and runs a professional services team on the side. The team emulates real-world adversarial attacks against agentic, generative and predictive AI, using methods like model manipulation, prompt injection and inference attacks. HiddenLayer launched the services in February 2024 with an AI risk assessment, ML training and red teaming. Its platform adds automated red teaming with scheduled scans and findings mapped to OWASP categories.

For a sponsor, HiddenLayer is the specialist you call when a portco ships an AI product or agent that customers touch, and you need to know how it fails under attack.

Services: AI red teaming, AI risk assessment, ML security training, automated red teaming, AI security platform

Standout Clients: None named publicly.

Best For: Portfolio companies building AI into their own product that need adversarial testing beyond a standard pen test.

Why Choose HiddenLayer:

• Testing covers agentic, generative and predictive AI
• Offensive methods aimed at the models themselves
• A platform that can keep re-testing after the engagement ends

Keep in Mind: HiddenLayer is a product company, and its services support the platform. It has no PE practice, and policy, LP diligence and SEC readiness sit outside its lane. Pair it with an advisory firm.

8. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42

Technical security vendor. A consultant-led AI security assessment from a major threat intelligence team.

Unit 42 is Palo Alto Networks' threat intelligence and incident response group. Its AI Security Assessment is a consultant-led evaluation of your AI security against Unit 42 best practices. The engagement ends with a threat-informed report and a risk-prioritized roadmap. An April 2026 Frontier AI Defense datasheet describes a separate service that uses frontier AI models to test your security stack against AI-driven attacks.

The ongoing piece is software. Prisma AIRS, Palo Alto's AI security product, includes AI red teaming and model security scanning that moves inspection into the CI/CD pipeline and model registry.

Services: Unit 42 AI Security Assessment, Frontier AI Defense, incident response, Prisma AIRS AI red teaming and model security

Standout Clients: None named publicly for AI work.

Best For: Portcos already on Palo Alto Networks that want an AI security baseline from the team that answers their incidents.

Why Choose Unit 42:

• Threat intelligence from a large incident response practice
• A clear deliverable: report plus prioritized roadmap
• A path to continuous testing through Prisma AIRS

Keep in Mind: The assessment is a point-in-time engagement, and ongoing coverage means buying the product. There is no PE practice, no governance policy work, and the engagement shape suits large enterprises more than a $100M portco.

9. Schellman

Independent auditor. The certification body you call when an LP or a customer wants third-party proof.

Schellman is on this list for one job: independent certification. In September 2024 it became the first ANAB-accredited ISO/IEC 42001 certification body, by its own account. Accounting Today reported an eight-month accreditation process in which Schellman audited Evisort and StackAware while ANAB observed. It later certified KPMG in the US.

The firm has a private equity story of its own. Goldman Sachs Alternatives agreed to a strategic investment in Schellman, becoming majority investor with Lightyear Capital staying on as a minority holder. The deal was expected to close in Q2 2026 and is meant to fund expansion in AI governance, federal compliance and digital trust.

Services: ISO/IEC 42001 certification, SOC 2 examinations, ISO 27001 certification, privacy assessments, federal compliance

Standout Clients: KPMG (US), Evisort, StackAware

Best For: Portfolio companies that sell AI to enterprise customers and need a recognized certificate to close deals or answer diligence.

Why Choose Schellman:

• First-mover accreditation for ISO/IEC 42001
• Independent proof carries weight with LPs, acquirers and enterprise buyers
• SOC 2 and ISO 42001 from one auditor

Keep in Mind: Auditors certify. They do not build your program, and independence rules keep it that way. Schellman ranks last here on implementation, and it is still the right call at the end of the process.

Final Thoughts on Choosing an AI Security and Compliance Partner

The right AI security and compliance partner depends on where your exposure sits. Fund-level questions about MNPI, SEC exams and LP diligence point toward a PE-fluent advisory firm. A portco shipping AI into its product needs a technical tester. A portco selling to enterprise buyers will eventually need an independent certificate. Most sponsors need two of these, and the mistake is buying the policy and assuming the configuration follows. The tech is relatively easy nowadays. It's the people side, and that includes the people who have to keep the controls current after the consultants leave.

We built our AI Security, Compliance & Governance service for the part that usually goes unowned: putting controls in place before portcos scale Claude and agents, and keeping them current with reporting you can hand to an LP. If that is the gap in your portfolio, talk to our team and we will walk through what governance for your next portco rollout could look like.

Last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Firm details are drawn from public sources as of this date and are linked throughout. Claims described as self-reported come from a firm's own materials and have not been independently verified. If we have something wrong about your firm, tell us and we will correct it.