CRX 2026 (Optro), SAN DIEGO

• October 13–15, 2026 | Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center | San Diego, California
• Virtual access: October 14–15, 2026

CRX 2026 is Optro’s annual customer and industry conference for professionals working across internal audit, enterprise risk, compliance, information security, and related GRC functions. Formerly known as Audit & Beyond, the event has been renamed the Connected Risk Experience to reflect its expansion beyond its original internal-audit focus and its emphasis on connecting risk disciplines, technology, data, and teams across the enterprise. CRX combines strategic keynotes, practitioner-led discussions, educational breakouts, product training, technology demonstrations, and peer networking.

The 2026 conference is built around the theme of transforming risk into opportunity, with more than 45 learning sessions organized across audit, risk, compliance, and cyber-risk tracks. The agenda places particular emphasis on the impact of artificial intelligence and agentic GRC, including how AI agents may change audit and compliance workflows, emerging-risk monitoring, operational resilience, cyber-risk quantification, regulatory change management, control testing, risk modeling, and executive decision support. Sessions are designed to combine forward-looking discussion with practical guidance that attendees can apply within their own programs.

Attendees can use CRX to compare strategies with practitioners from other organizations, strengthen their professional knowledge, explore emerging technology, and gain practical ideas for improving coordination across traditionally separated GRC functions. The event also provides direct access to Optro product specialists, early exposure to new product capabilities, and opportunities to discuss implementation and operational challenges with customers, partners, and industry experts. In-person participants can earn up to 17 continuing professional education credits, while the complimentary virtual experience provides access to selected keynotes, Optro innovation updates, and up to five CPE credits.

GRC 20/20 Attendee & Presenter . . .

If you ask my family what I do for a living, they might say that I “travel the world talking about risk.” And honestly, that wouldn’t be far from the truth. But the more formal introduction is that I am an analyst, researcher, storyteller, and, as the industry likes to remind me, the Father of GRC. More than 23 years ago, while at Forrester Research, I coined the acronym GRC and articulated it as a way to integrate governance, risk management, and compliance capabilities in strategy, process, and technology.

Today, through GRC 20/20 Research, I spend my days studying how organizations around the world navigate complexity and uncertainty. My job is to observe patterns, identify challenges, understand how strategy, process, and technology intersect, and help organizations evolve to be more effective, efficient, resilient, and agile. Along the way, I also founded GRC Report, a global news and insights platform focused entirely on governance, risk management, compliance, and business integrity news and insights around the world. It has become a place where practitioners, executives, policymakers, and technologists can see the GRC landscape through a global lens.

I also host two podcasts — Risk Is Our Business Podcast and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the GRC Technology Galaxy Podcast — because I believe conversation is one of the most powerful tools we have for changing how people think about risk and integrity. These podcasts allow me to explore big ideas with remarkable minds from around the world, and they keep me grounded in the reality that risk is not merely a function — it is the fabric of every decision and every ambition. In many ways, I am an explorer of uncertainty. As an industry analyst, I map and monitor the ever-expanding GRC galaxy — now tracking over 1,500 solutions and the professional services orbiting them. The universe of GRC is vast, dynamic, and constantly in motion, and I am endlessly fascinated by how organizations chart their course through it.

Conference Host . . .

Optro (formerly AuditBoard) helps enterprises transform risk into opportunity, redefining GRC through an agentic system of action. More than 50% of the Fortune 500 trust Optro to elevate audit, risk, and compliance in addressing a new era of risk. Optro is top-rated by customers on G2 and was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Tools, Assurance Leaders. To learn more, visit: optro.ai.