Case Study GovTech & AI

Security Configuration Guide Defense Agent

Automating the translation of Security Configuration Guides into technical compliance artifacts at scale.

Role

Product Design Lead

Domain

National Security

Focus

HITL & Agentic UX

Cybersecurity data visualization dashboard mockup

The Challenge

Dod compliance cycles used to be a graveyard for productivity and human focus.

The Department of Defense operates on rigorous security technical implementation guides (STIGs). Traditionally, security experts manually mapped thousands of high-level Security Requirements Guides (SRGs) to technical artifacts. This process was not only slow—taking months per system—but also highly susceptible to oversight.

As modern systems grew in complexity, the gap between requirement publishing and actual technical hardening widened. We needed a system that could understand the semantic nuance of security language while maintaining the absolute auditability required by government standards.

Design Process

01

Audit & Map

Embedded with security specialists to document the cognitive shortcuts used during manual mapping, identifying where AI could enhance judgment rather than replace it.

02

HITL Prototyping

Rapidly iterated on human-in-the-loop triggers. We focused on the 'hand-off' moments where the agent presents evidence to a reviewer for final validation.

03

Agentic Tuning

Developed a semantic parser interface that allowed designers to see the LLM's 'reasoning path,' ensuring absolute transparency for the auditors.

04

Stress Testing

Ran comparative benchmarks against manual efforts to validate both speed and accuracy, focusing on edge cases in regulated domain language.

The Solution

An auditable AI platform that translates policy into execution with expert precision.

Requirement Parser

A specialized LLM architecture designed to ingest thousands of PDF pages and decompose them into actionable security control data points.

Auditability Layer

Every mapping decision includes a citation to the source text and an explanation of the AI's logic, allowing for instant human verification.

Reviewer Hub

A high-throughput interface for security experts to bulk-approve, override, or refine agent suggestions with minimal friction.

Impact & Outcomes

75%

Reduction in manual effort

99.8%

Mapping Accuracy

2wk

From months to weeks per cycle

300+

Systems hardened per quarter

Want to see the prototypes?

Due to the sensitive nature of the work, full prototypes and documentation are available upon request for verified partners.