Jeffrey Collins

About Me

I got into GRC to transfer the skills I built across three distinct disciplines into a single, unified career path. As a former Army Staff Sergeant and Ranger-qualified Reconnaissance Squad Leader, I developed deep instincts for risk identification, mission planning, and decisive execution under pressure. I later applied that same structured thinking in executive security and corporate accounting, where I built familiarity with internal controls, financial integrity, and organizational risk. GRC became the natural convergence point where military leadership, physical security operations, and financial compliance all speak the same language.

I am the founder of Eagle Defense Systems (EDS), a GovCon-focused AI compliance and cybersecurity firm building tools that help small and mid-size contractors achieve and maintain CMMC, NIST, and FedRAMP alignment. My work sits at the crossroads of technical implementation and legal compliance strategy, and I hold a BSc in IT (Cybersecurity), Magna Cum Laude, with active pursuit of CGRC, CISM, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, and CISSP certifications.

My current focus is developing AI-powered compliance tooling that competes in the GovCon market with an emphasis on Third Party Auditor (3PAO/C3PAO) readiness, cloud security architecture, and procedural data integrity. What separates my approach from most GRC practitioners is that I am currently matriculating at Texas A&M University School of Law, concentrating in Cybersecurity Law and Policy and Risk Management and Compliance. That legal foundation is how I connect to GRC Engineering at a structural level: I do not just implement controls, I understand the regulatory intent, liability exposure, and policy architecture behind them. I am also a Professional Member of the CMMC Network and an Associate Member of ISC2