Waseem Samaan works in internal audit and risk, with experience building audit, SOX, governance, and risk functions for high-growth SaaS and fintech companies. Posts focus on how organizations can manage emerging risks such as AI, cybersecurity, payments, and regulatory change.
Waseem Samaan is useful for specialist thought leadership campaigns targeting senior internal audit and risk leaders.
Best for
Governance, risk, and compliance software vendors seeking expert content on AI and cybersecurity.
Not for
Broad consumer campaigns requiring high reach or lifestyle content for general audiences.
Key takeaways
Internal audit should be judged on trust and growth, not assurance alone.
Controls have to move at the speed of the business.
Audit belongs inside transformation projects, not only after them.
Check first: Ask for a current media kit or sponsorship one-pager and platform analytics.
Main ideas
Internal audit should be judged on trust and growth, not assurance alone · Controls have to move at the speed of the business · Read risk priorities from evidence, then ask whether the audit team can respond
Waseem Samaan writes about how internal audit and risk teams can respond to rapid changes in technology, finance and regulation. Their posts connect AI, cybersecurity and real-time payments to practical questions about governance, controls and audit’s role in business decisions.
Samaan’s distinctive contribution is linking emerging risks to changes in how organizations work.
In a post on payments and RegTech, they argue that instant payments demand more than speed: audit needs timely risk visibility, while compliance and product teams should act as co-owners.
A post on the changing role of internal audit makes a broader case for audit as a contributor to trust, governance and growth, with communication skills and the ability to connect risk with strategy.
Waseem Samaan writes about internal audit and risk leadership, mostly from the vantage point of fast-moving SaaS and fintech businesses.
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Three arguments recur: audit's value should be judged on trust, governance and growth rather than assurance alone; controls have to keep pace with transaction and technology speed; and risk priorities should be read from evidence, then turned into a question about whether the audit function has the skills to respond. The posts are conference reflections and commentary on IIA material, plus one sponsor-context account, rather than how-to guidance.
Internal audit should be judged on trust and growth, not assurance alone
In an Internal Audit Awareness Month post, Waseem Samaan argues that internal audit is "no longer just about assurance" and instead helps organizations build trust, strengthen governance, navigate risk and enable growth.
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As AI, cybersecurity, third-party risk, regulatory expectations and business transformation accelerate, the function's value comes from connecting risk to strategy. They add that the future will require critical thinking, communication and collaboration alongside technical expertise.
The post grounds the claim in their own vantage point: four years on the board of the Austin Chapter of The Institute of Internal Auditors and two years on the IIA North America Nominating Committee. It closes by thanking audit, risk, compliance, controls and governance professionals who work "behind the scenes" to help organizations operate with integrity and resilience.
Controls have to move at the speed of the business
Reporting from the NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum in Austin, Samaan argues that instant payments and real-time settlement require real-time risk visibility, stating plainly that "the days of retrospective controls and annual audits are over."
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They also argue that AI is simultaneously a control, a risk and an opportunity, so governance frameworks must evolve faster than the technology; and that compliance and product should work as co-owners rather than checkpoints. Banks and fintechs are converging in ways that demand more integrated assurance across cybersecurity, AML and operational resilience.
The post lists four takeaways from the forum: real-time payments and risk visibility, AI as control/risk/opportunity, compliance and product co-ownership, and bank-fintech convergence. They frame the discussion from experience building and scaling audit, SOX, risk and governance functions at high-growth SaaS and fintech companies.
Read risk priorities from evidence, then ask whether the audit team can respond
Samaan summarizes the IIA's Risk in Focus 2026 report: cybersecurity remains the top global risk, cited at 86% in North America; digital disruption and AI have moved into the number two global position, with the sharpest increases in Latin America and the Middle East; and geopolitical risk in North America jumped from 26% to 45% in a year.
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Samaan links to the full report. Their framing: the challenge for chief audit executives is not spotting the risks but ensuring their functions have the skills, governance and agility to keep pace.
Samaan pairs the three findings with a boardroom implication: the shifting risk landscape is already reshaping boardroom priorities, not just audit workplans. They point readers to the full report for the underlying data.
Audit belongs inside transformation projects, not only after them
Reflecting on the IIA Great Audit Minds Conference, Samaan describes speaking on internal audit's role in driving transformative projects, amid discussion of emerging risk, AI, ESG and cybersecurity.
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The post is also a sponsor account: they write as part of Boomi's presence at the event and describe how Boomi's platform supports risk mitigation, compliance and audit efficiency. The product claims are Boomi's event messaging, not an independent assessment.
Samaan says the exchange with audit committee chairs, FBI agents, CAEs, audit partners and the IIA's global president reaffirmed the role of innovation in internal audit's future. They also describe the vendor's booth and platform as part of the conference account.
Want to know how Samaan connects payment innovation to internal audit?
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The post turns faster transactions into a concrete question about risk visibility and control timing.
Samaan connects changes in payments—instant transactions and real-time settlement—to changes in how risk teams work. The post argues that retrospective controls and annual audits cannot provide enough visibility, and that compliance and product teams should share responsibility rather than operate as checkpoint and gatekeeper.
For brands planning a campaign
For a fintech or payments company, this is a useful starting point for assessing whether Samaan can speak to the practical links among product, compliance, fraud controls, and audit. A campaign could explore how assurance needs to change as transactions get faster.
This example shows how Samaan connects technology topics to internal audit and frames audit as part of transformation, with the commercial context in view.
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Reflecting on the IIA Great Audit Minds Conference, Samaan describes internal audit as contributing to transformative projects, not just reviewing them afterward.
The post names emerging risk, AI, ESG, and cybersecurity as conference topics, and discusses Boomi's platform in relation to risk mitigation, compliance, and operating and audit efficiency.
It combines professional-event reflection with a specific company and product context.
For brands planning a campaign
This post can help a technology company assess whether Samaan can discuss audit's role in technology adoption while acknowledging a product's business context. Boomi is named as a conference sponsor, and its platform is discussed; brands considering a similar format should ask how the sponsorship shaped the perspective.
Looking for Samaan's clearest statement of what internal audit should contribute?
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This post sets out both the function's broader purpose and the skills Samaan sees as necessary to deliver it.
Samaan describes internal audit as contributing to trust, governance, risk navigation, and growth—not only assurance.
They link that broader role to AI, cybersecurity, third-party risk, regulatory expectations, and business transformation, then emphasize critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and connecting risk to strategy.
They ground the perspective in service on the Austin IIA chapter board and the IIA North America Nominating Committee.
For brands planning a campaign
For a SaaS or fintech company building audit or governance functions, this is a strong sample of Samaan's leadership perspective. A campaign could focus on how audit teams build the communication and strategic judgment needed to keep pace with expanding risks.
This post shows how Samaan turns a risk report into a question for audit leadership, pairing selected figures with a practical implication for team readiness.
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Samaan highlights three reported shifts: cybersecurity as the leading global risk, digital disruption and AI at number two globally, and a rise in North American geopolitical risk from 26% to 45% in one year.
They turn those figures into a leadership question: whether chief audit executives have the skills, governance, and agility to respond.
The post links to the full report.
For brands planning a campaign
This is a useful sample for a research-led campaign about risk priorities, especially if the intended audience includes audit leaders. Before reusing the figures, check them against the linked report and preserve the regions and comparisons Samaan specifies.
Emerging risk agenda shaped by AI, cybersecurity, and regulatory change3
Internal audit as a growth and trust function, not only assurance1
Real-time payments and RegTech demand real-time risk visibility1
Audit transformation and tooling in conference practice1
Professional community leadership and audit capability building1
Data-led boardroom framing of risk priorities1
Internal audit as a growth and trust function, not only assurance
Waseem Samaan argues that internal audit helps organizations build trust, strengthen governance, navigate risk, and enable growth.
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In their Internal Audit Awareness Month post, they frame the work around connecting risk to strategy and moving beyond a pure assurance role, especially as AI, cybersecurity, third-party risk, regulatory expectations, and business transformation accelerate.
For brands planning a campaign
For a fintech or SaaS brief targeting senior audit or risk leaders, this supports a campaign about building governance that enables growth. Position audit leadership around board trust, strategic risk, and scalable controls.
Emerging risk agenda shaped by AI, cybersecurity, and regulatory change
Across posts, Waseem Samaan ties internal audit and risk work to AI governance, cybersecurity, third-party risk, regulatory expectations, and business transformation.
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One post describes AI as simultaneously a control, a risk, and an opportunity, adding that governance frameworks must evolve faster than the technology and that compliance and product should act as co-owners rather than checkpoints. Another references IIA Risk in Focus 2026 data showing cybersecurity as the top North American risk and digital disruption/AI as the next major global risk.
For brands planning a campaign
This speaks directly to campaigns on AI governance, integrated assurance, cyber risk, and regulatory readiness. The recurring AI-and-cyber framing supports a campaign about shifting controls from retrospective review to continuous risk oversight.
Real-time payments and RegTech demand real-time risk visibility
Reporting from the NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum in Austin, Waseem Samaan highlights instant payments, real-time settlement, AI-driven fraud prevention, and fast regulatory change as forces reshaping financial services.
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The post says retrospective controls and annual audits are no longer sufficient, and that convergence between banks and fintechs will require more integrated assurance across cybersecurity, AML, and operational resilience.
For brands planning a campaign
Payments and fintech companies can use this topic for a campaign about real-time risk visibility, continuous monitoring, and cross-functional assurance. The practical angle: compliance, product, audit, and risk teams need shared ownership as settlement cycles shorten.
Audit transformation and tooling in conference practice
At the IIA Great Audit Minds Conference, Waseem Samaan describes speaking on internal audit’s role in driving transformative projects.
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Discussions covered emerging risk, AI, ESG, and cybersecurity. The post also describes a sponsor context involving Boomi’s platform for risk mitigation, compliance, and audit efficiency.
Conference-based field reporting with takeaways tied to named sessions and vendor presence.
The Boomi mention appears in a sponsor context, not as an independent product review. Treat it as an endorsement only to the extent stated in the post.
For brands planning a campaign
This supports vendor-adjacent campaigns about audit transformation, automation, and data-driven controls. It can frame how audit leaders evaluate tools for efficiency and compliance; keep the sponsor context separate from any independent product recommendation.
Professional community leadership and audit capability building
Waseem Samaan connects their audit and risk perspective to sustained professional community work, citing four years on the Austin Chapter board of The Institute of Internal Auditors and two years on the IIA North America Nominating Committee.
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They argue that the future of internal audit will require critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and the ability to connect risk to strategy, not only technical expertise.
Documents volunteer roles and repeated conference participation.
For brands planning a campaign
For employer-brand, professional association, or leadership-development campaigns, this supports messaging about audit capability building and community credibility. It offers a concrete hook for reaching IIA audiences and discussing what senior audit leadership should look like beyond technical certification.
A post on the IIA’s Risk in Focus 2026 report presents cybersecurity as the top global risk at 86% in North America, digital disruption and AI as the second global risk, and geopolitical risk rising from 26% to 45% in North America in one year.
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Waseem Samaan frames the challenge for chief audit executives as ensuring their functions have the skills, governance, and agility to keep pace.
Uses IIA survey findings to translate global risk shifts into boardroom priorities.
For brands planning a campaign
This supports campaigns aimed at CAEs and audit committees seeking board-level risk statistics. Build a campaign around closing the audit capability gap as risk priorities shift faster than annual planning cycles.
Waseem Samaan’s posts show two organizational connections: representing Boomi at the IIA Great Audit Minds Conference, where Boomi was a sponsor, and board and nominating-committee service with The Institute of Internal Auditors.
Boomi
Disclosed partnership
In a post about the IIA Great Audit Minds Conference, Waseem Samaan writes that Boomi was a sponsor and refers to “our booth” and “Boomi’s platform,” indicating they represented Boomi at the event.
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Ask whether they held a formal role or were employed by Boomi.
Waseem Samaan states they have served on the Board of the Austin Chapter of The Institute of Internal Auditors for four years and on the IIA North America Nominating Committee for two years.
Waseem Samaan writes short, first-person posts about internal audit and risk leadership, mostly from the perspective of technology and payments companies.
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Start with their post on the IIA's Risk in Focus 2026 report, which lays out cybersecurity, AI and geopolitical risk as the boardroom agenda, then read their Internal Audit Awareness Month post on why the function earns its place through trust, governance and growth, not assurance alone.
Takeaways from NextGen Payments & RegTech and a reflection on IIA Great Audit Minds show how those ideas travel into conference rooms: real-time payments require real-time risk visibility; AI is a control, risk and opportunity at once; and audit work belongs inside transformation projects, not bolted on afterward.
The three profiles below offer the closest adjacent reading on the same ground.
Rasmussen works the same agenda as Samaan: governance, risk and compliance, with AI governance and risk quantification treated as live questions.
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Both write about why governance must continue between periodic checkpoints and return to risk intelligence as something that should change decisions, not sit in a dashboard.
Rasmussen runs a research and advisory operation, so his posts offer a curated market view through book reviews, a monthly GRC commentary round-up, podcast episodes, conference keynotes and vendor sessions. Samaan writes as an in-house audit and risk leader, focusing on the function being built inside a SaaS or fintech business rather than the wider technology market.
Mand covers AI governance and compliance for an executive readership, including how organisations can stay compliant while the rules are still being written—the same tension Samaan raises in arguing that governance frameworks must evolve faster than technology.
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Both treat data and system architecture as decisive to whether AI adoption holds up.
Mand takes a journalistic approach, interviewing technology executives for articles published under TechEDGE and ExecutiveEDGE, with a focus on data architecture and the AI race. Samaan offers reflective commentary drawn from IIA material, conferences and their own audit leadership experience.
Velica writes for the same professional community as Samaan—cybersecurity, GRC, audit and compliance practitioners—and covers overlapping ground, including audit types, controls and governance responsibilities.
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Both explain where audit and security work meet the rest of the business.
Velica uses structured teaching lists and frameworks: the 14 ISO 27001 domains, 17 audit types, each explained in a line and offered as something to save or share. Samaan offers narrative field notes and arguments for audit and risk leaders deciding how to position the function.
For a fintech or SaaS campaign aimed at senior internal audit and risk leaders, Waseem Samaan’s posts point to a small, specialist professional following rather than broad reach.
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The only measured figure published is a LinkedIn following of about 5,900, recorded 8 October 2026: enough to reach internal audit, risk and compliance specialists directly, but not to serve as a volume channel.
Their posts target internal audit, risk, controls and governance practitioners; the IIA network, including an Austin chapter board role and the Great Audit Minds conference; and fintech and payments audiences through the NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum.
The posts don’t provide geography, age, gender, engagement rate, employer, occupation or seniority data.
Ask for recent platform analytics on comparable topics and formats, plus any audience survey results, newsletter subscriber profile or event attendee list documenting professional attributes such as employer or seniority.
LinkedIn followers
5,911
LinkedIn profile, follower count recorded on 8 October 2026 · 2026-10-08
The four posts show conference participation and one employer-side sponsorship: Boomi, where Waseem Samaan describes the company as a proud sponsor of the IIA Great Audit Minds Conference, with a booth and a speaking slot on internal audit's role in transformative projects.
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That sponsorship belongs to Boomi and the conference, not to Samaan as a creator; the posts don't describe creator-facing formats a brand could buy. Ask Samaan directly for a current media kit or sponsorship one-pager.
A good fit for specialist thought leadership or an expert-led campaign, based on topic depth and audience alignment rather than reach.
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Brief
A governance, risk and compliance software vendor wants a subject-matter voice for a campaign targeting senior internal audit, risk and CAE audiences. The topic: moving audit and controls from annual, retrospective reviews to continuous risk visibility across AI, cybersecurity, payments and regulatory change.
Constraints
Waseem Samaan's posts do not provide engagement, reach, demographic, or conversion data, so campaign performance cannot be forecast from them.
No media kit, rate card, sponsorship one-pager or partnership inquiry route is published in the posts. Ask for the available paid formats and terms before scoping a campaign.
The Boomi conference mention appears in an employer and sponsor context, so it should not be reused as an independent product endorsement.
Why
Waseem Samaan's posts speak directly to the intended buyer problem: internal audit and risk functions must keep pace with AI, cybersecurity, third-party risk, regulatory expectations and business transformation.
One post argues that retrospective controls and annual audits are no longer sufficient for instant payments and real-time settlement, and that compliance and product should act as co-owners rather than checkpoints. That offers a usable campaign premise for a governance software vendor.
The Risk in Focus 2026 post offers concrete board-level hooks: cybersecurity as the top North American risk, digital disruption and AI as the next major global risk, and a jump in North American geopolitical risk.
Evidence of involvement in the IIA community—including Austin chapter board service and the North America Nominating Committee—supports credibility with internal audit practitioners and conference audiences.
With about 5,900 LinkedIn followers recorded in October 2026, the audience is small but specialist. The strongest fit is reaching audit and risk professionals, not buying mass reach.
When to choose a specialist
Poor fit for the consumer creator campaign: the posts do not show the reach or formats it requires.
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Brief
A consumer fintech app wants a high-reach creator campaign for a savings or cashback product launch aimed at a broad United States consumer audience. The brief calls for large-scale awareness, lifestyle content and measurable consumer acquisition.
Constraints
A broad consumer brief calls for a different creator network and evidence base. Do not use audit and risk reach figures as a proxy for consumer reach.
Reaching governance or risk buyers inside financial institutions would be a different, plausible brief and should be assessed separately.
Why
Waseem Samaan's posts target internal audit, risk, compliance, governance and CAE audiences. They cover controls, assurance, cybersecurity, AI governance and regulatory change—not consumer finance behavior.
The measured LinkedIn following is about 5,900 as of October 2026. That is a practitioner audience, not a mass consumer channel.
Waseem Samaan's posts do not show consumer content, lifestyle format, or broad-reach performance data. Content appeal to audit and risk professionals should not be read as pull with general consumers.
Ask for sponsorship formats, rates, a media kit and an inquiry route before scoping or pricing a consumer campaign.
A worked campaign example
Audience
Chief audit executives, internal audit directors, risk and compliance leaders, and governance professionals in SaaS, fintech, banking and payments.
Brief
Governance software vendor targeting senior internal audit and risk leaders. Goal: establish the vendor as a practical partner in moving from annual audit cycles to continuous risk oversight.
Campaign angle
From annual audit to real-time assurance: how audit and risk leaders keep pace when AI, cyber, payments and regulation move faster than the audit plan.
Content plan
Opening piece: Why real-time payments break retrospective controls. Start with Waseem Samaan's payments and RegTech post, then extend it into a practical discussion of control timing, monitoring frequency and shared ownership among product, compliance and audit.
Second piece: AI as control, risk and opportunity at the same time. Draw on the posts arguing that governance frameworks must evolve faster than the technology and that compliance and product should act as co-owners rather than checkpoints.
Third piece: The CAE skills gap after Risk in Focus 2026. Use the report commentary on cybersecurity, digital disruption and AI, and geopolitical risk to frame a discussion of skills, governance and agility.
Closing asset: A short working checklist for audit leaders to test whether their risk oversight remains annual and retrospective, with prompts on AI governance, third-party risk, cyber and real-time transaction controls.
The angle suits an editorial or expert-led thought-leadership series. For a paid partnership, ask directly about format, price, and deliverables; none are documented in the current evidence.
Measurement
Measure what Waseem Samaan's posts can support: qualified responses from audit and risk professionals, engagement with the checklist and report commentary, and downstream requests for a governance software conversation. Don't promise consumer-scale reach or treat follower count as a proxy for campaign performance.
Open questions
What paid formats, if any, does Waseem Samaan offer? Ask for a media kit or rate card; neither is published in the posts here.
What are the engagement rates and audience seniority mix on the relevant LinkedIn posts? Waseem Samaan's posts give a follower count but no performance data; ask for both.
Are there sponsored content examples outside the Boomi conference context? Waseem Samaan's posts include no independent sponsored work; ask for examples.
Proof points
Waseem Samaan's statement that retrospective controls and annual audits are over for real-time payments.
The argument that compliance and product must be co-owners, not checkpoints.
The AI framing: a control, a risk, and an opportunity at once.
Risk in Focus 2026 figures on cybersecurity, AI, and geopolitical risk, with the source report link for checking.
Choose Michael Rasmussen when a campaign needs a GRC analyst voice across governance, risk, compliance technology, AI governance, and risk quantification for a vendor audience.
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The October 2026 posts include a GRC Insights commentary roundup with a review of Tim Leech's book on mission-critical governance, an argument that GRC must move beyond inventories of risks and controls to focus on what matters most, and a piece on why AI governance cannot be reduced to periodic checkpoints.
Another post describes a conference keynote on AI, risk, and resilience, and a session on risk quantification that moves beyond heatmaps.
For a vendor campaign aimed at GRC technology buyers and conference audiences, Rasmussen is the stronger choice when the vendor wants analyst-style market commentary, continuous-governance framing for AI, and risk quantification content.
The tradeoff is internal audit practitioner depth.
Rasmussen's posts do not show internal audit leadership roles, IIA chapter board service, or hands-on audit and SOX operating experience.
They show GRC commentary, newsletter curation, and conference speaking.
If a campaign aimed at chief audit executives and internal audit directors must persuade them to change audit planning and control timing, Rasmussen offers a broader GRC market lens but less evidence of experience running an audit function inside a company.
Ask for examples of that experience if it is essential to the campaign.
Choose Jess Mand when a campaign needs editorial interviews connecting AI governance and compliance to data architecture and C-suite technology decisions.
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The 2026 posts show an article conversation with Arron Lamp, CIO of Tokio Marine HCC, about building flexible AI governance while rules are still being written, and another conversation with Pierre Bourgeix, CEO of ESI Convergent, about why data architecture determines who wins the AI race. Jess Mand is a better match than Waseem Samaan if the vendor's angle is AI governance as an emerging executive and data problem, and the campaign benefits from named CIO and CEO interview subjects rather than audit-function commentary.
The tradeoff is direct internal audit and CAE relevance.
Jess Mand's posts center on AI governance, compliance, and data architecture from a technology and executive perspective.
They do not show internal audit leadership, IIA community roles, or audit controls operating experience.
For a campaign aimed at chief audit executives and internal audit directors, Jess Mand may need a supporting audit voice.
The posts promote linked articles rather than containing the full interviews, so readers cannot fully inspect the underlying arguments.
Ask for the full interviews if that matters to the campaign.
Choose Marcel Velica when a campaign needs clear, saveable explainers mapping cybersecurity, GRC, and audit concepts for a broad practitioner audience.
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The October 2026 posts list the 14 domains of ISO 27001 and 17 audit types, using numbered explanations and a follow prompt. For a vendor campaign aimed at practitioners, Marcel Velica is the better choice if the vendor wants framework literacy content, glossary-style assets, or social posts that help practitioners understand where cybersecurity audit, internal audit, IT audit, compliance, and governance responsibilities sit.
The tradeoff is seniority and strategic voice.
Marcel Velica's posts show educational lists and framework summaries, not internal audit leadership experience, IIA community roles, or board-level commentary on continuous risk oversight.
For a vendor campaign that must persuade CAEs and audit directors to rethink annual audit cycles, Marcel Velica can broaden framework understanding.
Ask for evidence of practitioner leadership experience if the campaign requires the kind shown in Waseem Samaan's posts.
Four LinkedIn posts by Waseem Samaan cover reflections on the NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum and the IIA Great Audit Minds Conference, an Internal Audit Awareness Month post describing IIA volunteer roles, and commentary on the IIA's Risk in Focus 2026 report.
The posts span 2024 to 2026; Waseem Samaan's account had about 5,900 followers in October 2026.
The posts do not provide a media kit, sponsorship formats, rate card, or post-level engagement data, so commercial questions remain open rather than estimated.