Building a Modular Compliance Engine: Why One-Size-Fits-All Does Not Work

The Problem with Pre-Built Compliance Packages

Every compliance tool on the market sells you a package. SOC 2 package. HIPAA package. GDPR package.

The assumption is simple: if you need SOC 2 compliance, you need all of SOC 2. If you need HIPAA, you need all of HIPAA.

But that is not how compliance works in the real world.

A healthcare AI startup in New York City does not need "all of HIPAA." They need the specific HIPAA controls that apply to their AI inference pipeline. They also need NYC Local Law 144 rules for their hiring recommendation engine. And they need a subset of SOC 2 controls because their enterprise customers require it.

No pre-built package covers this exact combination. So they buy three packages, run three separate audits, and manage three separate remediation workflows — most of which overlap.

The Regulatory Mix Is Unique to Every Organization

Consider three real-world scenarios:

Scenario 1: Healthcare AI in New York

• HIPAA (patient data in AI training)
• NYC LL144 (AI-assisted clinical staffing decisions)
• SOC 2 (enterprise hospital customers)
• Needed: 14 specific rules from 3 frameworks

Scenario 2: Fintech AI in Colorado

• Colorado AI Act SB 24-205 (high-risk lending AI)
• SOC 2 (bank partnerships)
• GDPR (European customer data)
• Needed: 16 specific rules from 3 frameworks

Scenario 3: European AI SaaS Provider

• EU AI Act (high-risk AI system provider)
• ISO 42001 (AI management system certification)
• GDPR (data processing)
• ISO 27001 (information security)
• Needed: 22 specific rules from 4 frameworks

Three organizations. Three completely different regulatory mixes. No single pre-built package serves any of them well.

What a Modular Compliance Engine Looks Like

HAIEC's Rule Pack Builder takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of selling pre-built packages, it gives you a library of individual compliance rules and lets you compose your own audit configuration.

The process:

1. Browse the rule library — 23+ rules organized by framework (NYC LL144, Colorado AI Act, EU AI Act, SOC 2)
2. Filter by what matters — Search by keyword, filter by framework, filter by severity
3. Select individual rules — Pick exactly the rules that apply to your regulatory obligations
4. Compose a custom pack — Name it, version it, save it
5. Execute it — Run your custom pack against your AI systems just like any pre-built pack

The result is a compliance audit that matches your exact regulatory footprint — nothing more, nothing less.

Why Modularity Matters

1. No Wasted Effort

A pre-built SOC 2 package might contain 50 controls. Your AI system might only be in scope for 12 of them. Running all 50 means your team spends time reviewing 38 irrelevant results.

A modular engine lets you select only the 12 that matter. Every check is relevant. Every result requires action.

2. Cross-Framework Composition

The real power of modularity is combining rules from different frameworks into a single audit.

Instead of running a SOC 2 audit, then a HIPAA audit, then a NYC LL144 audit — you build one custom pack that includes the specific rules from all three. One execution. One report. One remediation workflow.

3. Versioned and Reproducible

Custom packs are versioned. When you modify a pack — adding a rule because a new regulation takes effect, or removing one because a system is decommissioned — the version increments automatically.

Previous versions remain in the system. You can always go back and see exactly which rules were in your pack on any given date. This is critical for audit trails: a regulator can verify not just what your compliance posture was, but what you were measuring.

4. Evolving with Your Business

Regulations change. Your business changes. New jurisdictions, new products, new AI systems.

A modular engine adapts. When the Colorado AI Act takes effect, you add the relevant rules to your pack. When you expand to Europe, you add EU AI Act rules. When you decommission a system, you remove the rules that applied to it.

No need to buy a new package. No need to migrate to a different tool. Just update your pack.

The Architecture Behind It

Every rule in the HAIEC library has a consistent structure:

• Rule ID — Unique identifier (e.g., NYC-LL144-001)
• Framework — Which regulation it belongs to
• Severity — Critical, High, Medium, or Warning
• Description — What the rule checks
• Control mapping — Which normalized control category it maps to
• Effective date — When the regulation requires compliance

When you compose a custom pack, you are selecting a subset of these rules. The pack inherits the framework metadata, severity levels, and control mappings from each included rule.

When the pack executes, each rule runs independently against your system state. Results are aggregated into a single report with cross-framework impact analysis. If a rule fails, the root cause engine traces it through the control normalizer to show which other frameworks are affected.

Who This Is For

Compliance officers who manage multiple regulatory obligations and are tired of running separate audits for each framework.

Legal teams who need to demonstrate that their compliance program covers specific regulatory requirements — not just "we have SOC 2."

Engineering teams who want to integrate compliance checks into their CI/CD pipeline with a pack that matches their exact deployment context.

Startups who cannot afford enterprise GRC platforms but need to demonstrate compliance to customers and regulators.

The Shift from Buying Packages to Building Engines

The compliance industry has operated on a package model for decades. Buy the SOC 2 module. Buy the HIPAA module. Buy the GDPR module. Each module is a black box with its own logic, its own reports, its own remediation workflows.

This model made sense when compliance was primarily about policy documents and questionnaires. But AI compliance is different. AI systems are technical. They change constantly. They operate under multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.

The package model cannot keep up. The modular model can.

Build your compliance engine from the rules that matter. Execute it continuously. Evolve it as your regulatory landscape changes.

That is not a feature. That is a fundamentally different approach to compliance.

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The modular audit engine is one of five patent-pending innovations in HAIEC Compliance Twin. Try the Rule Pack Builder or explore Compliance Twin.