Third Party Therapy - Julie Gaiaschi - Inside the TPRA: Building a Community for Third Party Risk

In this episode, Mike Day is joined by Julie Gaiaschi, CEO and co-founder of the Third Party Risk Association (TPRA), a non-profit, vendor-agnostic professional association for the third party risk management (TPRM) industry.

Julie shares how her career as an IT auditor and healthcare security practitioner led her to co-found a roundtable that grew from 15 companies to 125 in four meetings — and eventually became TPRA. She and Mike discuss:

• How TPRM evolved from a procurement and compliance "check the box" function into a proactive, strategic risk management discipline
• Why finance and healthcare led on TPRM maturity, and how retail and manufacturing have caught up post-COVID (including the Target/HVAC vendor breach as a catalyst)
• The crossover between physical supply chain risk (manufacturing, pharma, automotive) and digital/cyber risk (SBOMs, AI-BOMs)
• How TPRM as a profession has evolved — from an accidental, side-of-desk role to a recognised career path, and the rise of Chief Risk Officer functions
• Geographic differences in TPRM maturity: the US and Europe (GDPR, DORA) leading, with Australia, Brazil, South Africa and China at earlier stages
• Fourth-party and supply chain discovery tools, including mentions of Interos, Black Kite and Prompt Armor
• TPRA's new AI-focused Trust Portal guidance, developed with a Third Party Advisory Committee of major tool providers, open for public comment until 3 July
• TPRA's upcoming events: a free virtual conference (9 September), quarterly tool "demo days," a new event for consultants (September), and in-person events in Dallas (14–15 October) and London (10–11 November) in partnership with CeFPro
• Julie's advice for anyone new to TPRM: download the free TPRM 101 Guidebook, learn your business, get involved in the community, and build cross-functional relationships early

Guest: Julie Gaiaschi, CEO & Co-Founder, Third Party Risk Association (TPRA) Host: Mike Day

Third Party Therapy is produced in association with CeFPro Connect.

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Chapter markers / timestamps

1. Introduction and welcome
2. Julie's background: IT audit → healthcare security → founding the TPRA roundtable
3. Why finance and healthcare led on TPRM, and how retail/manufacturing caught up post-COVID
4. Supply chain crossover: physical goods vs. services, SBOMs and AI-BOMs
5. The professionalisation of TPRM: from procurement side-of-desk to Chief Risk Officer functions
6. Where TPRM people come from, and the skills that matter most
7. Geographic differences: US, Europe, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, China
8. Technology landscape and fourth-party discovery tools (Interos, Black Kite, Prompt Armor)
9. AI, resourcing, and moving TPRM "up the value chain"
10. TPRA's Trust Portal guidance and Third Party Advisory Committee
11. Upcoming TPRA events (virtual conference, demo days, Dallas, London)
12. Lessons learned: advice for anyone new to TPRM
13. Close and sign-off

• TPRA website
• free TPRM 101 Guide
• TPRA virtual conference registration (9 September)
• London event with CeFPro (10–11 November)
• Dallas event with CeFPro (14–15 October)