Protective Security Compliance Guideline Playbook
Compliance in protective security is rarely straightforward. Standards describe what should be achieved. They rarely describe how to achieve it inside complex, imperfect, real organisations.
The Protective Security Compliance Guideline Playbook, authored by Adriaan Bosch, provides a structured way to bridge that gap. It introduces the Compliance Companion Model and a disciplined workflow that helps practitioners interpret requirements, test them against operational reality, refine them without losing intent, and document decisions in a defensible way.
As outlined in the opening sections of the playbook, this is not a checklist and it is not prescriptive instruction. It is a decision-support tool designed to strengthen judgement, not replace it.
Using This Playbook with AI Agents (In Plain English)
You do not need to be technical to use this playbook alongside AI.
Think of an AI agent as a structured thinking assistant. It can help you:
Break down complex requirements
Identify hidden assumptions
Surface tensions between compliance and operations
Highlight potential risks or blind spots
Test alternative interpretations before you commit to a decision
The playbook is deliberately written to work conversationally with AI.
A simple way to use it:
Open your chosen AI tool.
Paste the AI Decision-Support Prompt included in the playbook (see early pages).
Paste the relevant section of the playbook.
Add your organisational context.
Ask structured questions about fit, feasibility, or risk.
The AI will not make decisions for you. It cannot certify compliance. It cannot replace leadership judgement.
What it can do is help you reason more clearly and document your thinking more consistently.
Used correctly, AI becomes:
A second pair of eyes
A pattern-recognition assistant
A way to stress-test assumptions
A prompt for better governance documentation
Judgement and accountability remain human. That principle is embedded throughout the playbook Playbook (1).
Why This Matters
Compliance drives governance. Governance drives funding. Funding drives security capability.
Poor interpretation leads to:
Controls that look compliant but fail operationally
Friction between security and operations
Audit exposure
Cultural resistance
Expensive redesign
This playbook creates structure around interpretation so that compliance decisions are:
Context-aware
Documented
Defensible
Sustainable
When combined with AI thoughtfully, it allows organisations to move from reactive compliance to deliberate, explainable compliance.
More to Come
This is the first in a series of practical decision-support playbooks by Adriaan Bosch. Future editions will address other areas of security decision-making, digital assurance, and governance maturity.
