Susana Sierra is the CEO of BH Compliance, a company that has gained recognition for their innovative approach to integrating technology, particularly blockchain, into compliance programs to combat corruption in the private sector. Co-founded a decade ago, BH Compliance now serves over 150 global business groups, helping them document and enhance their compliance programs to ensure transparency and integrity.
Sierra was honored as “CEO of the Year” by the Women in Governance, Risk and Compliance Series in 2023, and she serves on the Board of Directors for the Chilean American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Chile) and the Financial & International Business Association (FIBA). Previously, she was the president of Chile Transparente and has held positions on various boards, including Correos de Chile SA.
In addition to her corporate work, she has co-directed compliance diploma courses at the Catholic University of Chile and lectured internationally on corporate governance and compliance issues.
Why is now the time for your company to exist? What are the most pressing pain points you solve, and what makes them more urgent now than ever?
The urgency to adopt sustainable and ethical practices is a growing pain point for businesses, that are facing pressure from all sides—customers, investors, and regulators:
- Society is increasingly aware of environmental and social impacts, influencing consumer choices.
- Investors are demanding that businesses incorporate sustainability into their strategies,
- Regulators are enforcing transparent and verifiable reporting of societal impacts.
This intense scrutiny has revealed widespread issues such as greenwashing, socialwashing, or other corruption scandals, exposing companies to serious lawsuits, fines, reputational damage, and loss of investment capital, ultimately affecting their long-term profit and value.
The root cause of these challenges is a lack of genuine commitment to corporate governance and weak implementation of compliance programs. Senior management teams often fail to prioritize business integrity, while compliance programs remain superficial and theoretical, which increases the risk of companies getting involved in serious corruption scandals. In addition, it is very difficult to measure and make the corporate governance and compliance of the company visible.
This is why we firmly believe that effective corporate governance is the backbone of any ethical and sustainable business practice. Without it, all the efforts may become superficial, driven by marketing rather than real impact. But strong corporate governance also has proven benefits, particularly in times of crisis, as during the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, when well-governed companies demonstrated resilience and were able to recover faster, maintaining long-term profitability.
Our solution to this problem is twofold: we offer G-Metrix and Comply Pulse, two innovative services designed to enhance corporate governance and compliance. Delivered via a secure, user-friendly platform, these tools provide businesses with actionable insights and measurable improvements:
- G-Metrix measures, diagnoses, and validates corporate governance practices by conducting in-depth analyses across various areas of the business that help companies identify gaps and achieve the highest business standards.
- Comply Pulse ensures the effectiveness of compliance programs by conducting gap analyses and compliance audits. This way we enable compliance officers and top management to visualize gaps, correct them, and generate evidence of good practices in blockchain to protect the company.
With these services, we aim to build real, lasting business integrity by strengthening the pillars of corporate governance and compliance, ultimately driving long-term success.
What unique features and capabilities help you solve them in a better way than other solutions? Can you share metrics and examples that show the difference you’re making?
Our key differentiators lie in a combination of deep expertise, innovative technology, and a proactive approach to governance and compliance:
Our Products
Our products are the great differentiating element in the industry, because the usefulness of our solutions makes corporate governance and compliance visible through a simple platform.
This is decisive for a company today, because complying with regulations and ensuring the integrity of their actions not only adds value and gives them competitiveness, but also protects them. We are constantly updating and observing new trends to offer solutions that provide the best service to our clients.
Experience in emerging markets
With over 14 years of experience, we have developed a nuanced understanding of both global corporate realities and local regulations. This dual focus has allowed us to offer solutions tailored to diverse and challenging markets.
Technology-driven solutions
In 2016, we launched a web platform, a tool that has become a cornerstone of our business, allowing us to remotely monitor compliance across multiple regions, streamlining communication, and providing real-time insights for our clients. This level of automation ensures efficiency and scalability, making compliance management more seamless.
Proactive approach to innovation
One of our core values at BH Compliance is “We don’t wait for things to happen; we make them happen.” This mindset drives us to continuously seek out new challenges and stay ahead of industry trends. By remaining agile and innovative, we have been able to anticipate emerging risks and provide our clients with robust solutions.
Blockchain Integration for Transparency
BH Compliance is a global pioneer in using blockchain technology to enhance compliance processes. Blockchain’s ability to provide transparency, traceability, and immutability of records adds an extra layer of integrity to the evidence generated by compliance programs. By safeguarding data in this way, we empower our clients to combat corruption more effectively and ensure that their compliance efforts are beyond reproach.
Commitment to cybersecurity
Over the past year, we have made significant strides in improving our cybersecurity infrastructure to provide our clients with greater protection for their sensitive information. Understanding that cybersecurity requires continuous improvement, we remain committed to staying ahead of potential threats, ensuring that our clients’ data is handled with the utmost care and security.
Multidisciplinary team
We have a team of over 20 professionals, including experts in corporate governance, compliance, law, and auditing, ensuring a comprehensive approach to tackling challenges.
With both of our products, BH Compliance has made an impact on over 170 business groups (including medium and large companies) by measuring the effectiveness of corporate governance components. By strengthening the establishment of robust corporate governance that operates under ethical standards, our clients are influencing society for good. They are not only meeting its demands but also promoting essential values in a crisis-ridden world were regaining belief and restoring lost trust is fundamental.
Through Comply Pulse, we have obtained 2200 certifications, and extended our reach from Chile to Latam and the US. We have bolstered the compliance areas of companies spanning various economic sectors, directly aiding in the prevention of corporate corruption through policies, procedures, and audit evidence (even impacting the identification of its impact). We aim to increase our presence in Latin America by 30%, as this region experiences high levels of corruption. Our goal is to reach more companies and assist them in measuring the effectiveness of their corporate best practices, thus contributing to reducing corruption levels in the region.
As for G-Metrix, being a more recent product, we believe it will be crucial to assess how companies align their sustainable practices from top management and adapt internal policies and procedures to foster a culture of responsibility and ethics that extends even to their supplier chains. So far we have done 12 pilots for Chilean, European, and American companies. Over the next 12 months, there are plans to expand the reach in Latin America reaching 50 new clients and improve our market fit in the US.
Both of our services have enabled companies to create a positive impact on society by promoting sustainable actions and preventing corruption – a scourge that results in millions of dollars in global losses and carries a significant societal cost. In this way, we strive for a more just society, less corrupt economies, and the promotion of ethical business practices where values are at the forefront of business operations.
What are the biggest challenges your company has overcome since its founding? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?
One of our biggest challenges was helping companies realize the true value of compliance in preventing corporate crime. Initially, many viewed it as a bureaucratic burden, treating it as a mere checklist without grasping its real impact. This mindset extended to corporate governance, where companies under pressure to meet ESG standards sometimes resorted to practices like greenwashing—focusing on environmental claims without genuine commitment. Many overlooked the importance of the “G” (governance), which is key to driving real, sustainable impact.
Today, it’s clear that profitability and sustainability go hand-in-hand, with strong governance at the core. Over time, companies have come to understand that implementing robust governance and compliance programs not only reduces risk but also enhances profitability and competitiveness.
Another significant challenge has been integrating technology into our services, as we continuously innovate for improvement. For example, BH Compliance became the first company to introduce blockchain in the fight against corruption, establishing ourselves as pioneers in this space. Additionally, enhancing cybersecurity has been a major focus, as safeguarding client data and ensuring secure operations are increasingly critical in a digital world. We’ve made significant efforts to strengthen our cybersecurity infrastructure, and this continuous improvement remains a priority.
If I could start from scratch with BH Compliance, it would be to expand much earlier outside of Chile, especially to the United States. I think we spent too much time creating corporate culture, instead of going where the culture already existed.
I would implement technology earlier in our services, because they offer a series of solutions and opportunities that provide value and competitive advantages. While we pioneered the use of blockchain in anti-corruption, we were able to introduce it earlier by taking advantage of its benefits, as well as experimenting with new solutions. I believe that thinking out of the box is key to keep moving forward.
What is the most powerful and easy-to-apply tactic that helped you quickly increase revenue and traffic? What metrics did it move and by how much?
B2B sales can be challenging, especially when addressing topics that companies may be unaware of or reluctant to confront, such as compliance and corporate corruption.
The most effective tactic for driving revenue and traffic growth was educating our target audience on the importance of compliance and good governance. Instilling a culture of integrity isn’t easy when companies don’t fully understand the stakes. By highlighting how these issues affect the entire organization, we made it easier to sell our services.
Our educational approach involved positioning ourselves as thought leaders in the field. We invested heavily in content creation—writing articles, hosting webinars, sharing client testimonials, and organizing conferences and panels. This strategy paid off by significantly boosting our visibility and credibility, enabling us to expand from serving companies solely in Chile to clients across Latin America. We now operate from a US office, focusing on US companies with subsidiaries in the region.
Staying ahead of new local regulations by studying compliance and governance standards in more developed markets gave us a competitive edge. Our ability to quickly adapt and offer forward-thinking solutions differentiated us from competitors.
As a result, we expanded our client base across Latin America and entered the US market.
What emerging trends and technologies will impact your industry the most in the next few years, and how do you suggest getting ready for these changes?
The rapid advancement of new technologies is a key trend that will significantly impact industries in the coming years, often outpacing the regulations meant to govern them. This can entail significant risks for companies if they are not managed ethically and responsibly.
It is therefore essential that, through effective compliance programs and a real commitment on the part of boards of directors, internal policies are implemented to prevent risks and promote responsible use. It’s not a matter of avoiding or fearing these technologies, but of focusing on prevention and strengthening corporate governance, capable of guiding all members of the company towards good practices in this area.
I believe that Artificial Intelligence is a technology that has changed paradigms because it has transformed the way we process and analyze information and opened up new opportunities. It brings great challenges for companies, for example, in terms of cybersecurity or personal data protection. The important thing is how we use it ethically, because this technology will continue to expand and gain power, but it must be the companies that are responsible for establishing frameworks of responsibility, guaranteeing transparency in their processes and protecting the privacy of users, ensuring that its implementation benefits society as a whole.
For this reason, controls must be in place, but they must also be communicated and the whole company must be trained on them.
To prepare for these technological shifts, companies must stay ahead of the curve by adopting and understanding emerging technologies. This proactive approach allows organizations to anticipate potential risks and build resilience. Avoiding new technologies is not a solution—those who fail to innovate risk losing competitiveness and relevance in the market.
Embracing innovation with a strong ethical foundation, backed by governance and compliance, is essential for staying competitive and ensuring long-term success in a rapidly evolving landscape.
If there was one unconventional piece of advice you wish our readers could bring home from this interview, what would it be?
Adaptability is key to staying competitive. Technologies like artificial intelligence are driving incredible opportunities for innovation and growth. However, it’s just as important for companies to understand and manage the risks involved to ensure these tools are used responsibly.
My advice is to focus on strong governance and aligning actions with core values. This will not only help companies embrace challenges with integrity but also strengthen their long-term success and resilience.
How can our readers connect with you?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susana-sierra/
