Eva Pittas is the co-founder and COO of Laika, a company that helps other companies manage compliance, obtain security certifications, and build trust with enterprise customers. Tom Fox welcomes her to this week’s show to talk about Laika and how it helps its clients.

The Birth of Laika

Eva began her professional life running IT risk and control for Citigroup and even worked there after the financial crisis of 2008. She was an integral part of the strong response to counteract the economic collapse. She joined the fintech industry in 2014, as she saw the growth happening in that space. She noticed that many companies “needed to get through with vendor procurement but they did not know what those processes would look like, what diligence would be, or what the security requirements were.” She started her consultancy boutique, BRCG, to provide answers to these questions. Working in the fintech space emphasized the importance of audits. Laika was born as a compliance solution for the rise of the cloud and to address the lack of expertise in information security and compliance guidance for companies. 

The Complete Compliance Solution 

Tom asks Eva about their typical clients and to describe the complete compliance solution. Eva says that most of their clientele are small to medium-sized innovative technology companies that are looking to introduce a holistic compliance program. She explains, “Compliance is not very straightforward….. it requires an interpretation of a standard, of a rule, of a regulation and how to apply that to your business.” Compliance programs have to evolve constantly to meet new compliance standards. Laika provides a customizable solution based on your compliance needs. 

What Makes Laika Special

Eva explains that what makes Laika stand out from other companies is that they have the expertise for all these recognized requirements. She states, “What Laika does is provide expert guidance and various subject matter experts that are a part of our solution that helps companies implement and maintain compliance.” Laika University facilitates this learning process.  

Women In Tech 

Eva emphasizes that women belong in the technology industry, no matter their background. “Technology is not in the future – it’s here,” she says. She encourages more women to enter the space, as you do not need a technological background to break into tech - several non-technical jobs are being created every day. 

Resources 

Eva Pittas | LinkedIn | Twitter   

Hey Laika