Question 1

What is Hydrus?

Accepted Answer

Hydrus is the system of record and continuous audit-evidence layer for enterprise AI — continuously discovering every model, agent, and vendor, classifying and tiering risk, mapping controls, and generating always-current audit evidence. Think of it as Vanta, but purpose-built for AI governance.

Question 2

What is AI governance and why does it matter now?

Accepted Answer

Inventorying, risk-assessing, documenting, and proving the behavior of every AI system you run. It matters now because the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, and ISO 42001 increasingly require continuous, demonstrable oversight — and because AI agents now take actions, not just generate text.

Question 3

Who is Hydrus for?

Accepted Answer

Enterprise buyers in regulated industries — financial services, healthcare, government, and technology. Primary buyers are CISOs, Chief AI Officers, Heads of GRC/Compliance, Chief Data Officers, General Counsel, and AI/ML engineering leaders. We also serve lean mid-market teams adopting self-serve.

Question 4

Is Hydrus a runtime firewall or proxy?

Accepted Answer

No. Hydrus is the governance and audit-evidence layer. It integrates with your cloud, model providers, and AI-security tools as evidence sources; it doesn't sit in your live request path. Hydrus integrates with runtime/security tools and pulls their signals in as evidence.

Question 5

What's the difference between Hydrus and a documentation-only GRC tool?

Accepted Answer

Generic GRC tools store policies. Hydrus continuously discovers your actual AI systems, classifies them, maps controls, and keeps evidence current automatically — a living system of record, not a binder. It knows which AI systems you actually run and can classify them under the EU AI Act.

Question 6

Can Hydrus govern AI agents and not just models?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Built for agentic and MCP environments, with impact assessments, tool-call accountability, and full audit logs for autonomous behavior. Hydrus is designed for the reality of agents that act, not just models that answer.

Question 7

How does shadow-AI discovery work?

Accepted Answer

Hydrus connects to your cloud, SaaS providers, and model providers via API and connectors and auto-discovers AI usage that teams haven't registered. Unregistered or unsanctioned systems are flagged and brought under governance before your next audit.

Question 8

How does Hydrus help with EU AI Act compliance?

Accepted Answer

Classifies systems across the four risk tiers (unacceptable, high, limited, minimal), screens for Article 5 prohibited practices, auto-drafts the documentation high-risk obligations require as they phase in, and generates audit-ready Annex IV evidence and exports.

Question 9

Which frameworks does Hydrus support?

Accepted Answer

EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and AIUC-1 — mapped on day one. Sustainability coverage includes CSRD, ISSB, CA SB 253, GRI, TCFD, and CDP. Trade coverage includes CBAM, EUDR, UFLPA, and the EU Forced Labour Regulation.

Question 10

Does Hydrus replace my existing GRC or security tools?

Accepted Answer

No — it layers above them. Hydrus integrates with security posture tools, model providers, and cloud infrastructure as evidence sources. It is the AI governance and audit-evidence layer, not a replacement for SOC 2 controls or existing GRC infrastructure.

Question 11

How does Hydrus handle our data and security?

Accepted Answer

SOC 2 (Type II) and ISO 27001. Encryption in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). Deploy as SaaS or inside your own VPC / self-host. Regional data residency available. For security questionnaires, contact sales@hydrus.ai.

Question 12

How fast can we deploy?

Accepted Answer

Most teams reach a governed inventory in days, not quarters. Deploy as SaaS or in your own VPC, integrating via API and connectors. Enterprise customers can opt for expert-configured onboarding.

Question 13

What deployment options are available?

Accepted Answer

SaaS (managed by Hydrus), customer VPC (your infrastructure), or self-hosted. Regional data residency is available. The Starter and Team plans run on SaaS. Enterprise plans include VPC / self-host.

Question 14

How does the 30-day trial work?

Accepted Answer

Every plan starts with a 30-day full-access reverse trial. You get the complete platform from day one. On day 31 you drop to Free unless you choose a paid plan — no credit card required to start.

Question 15

What does the price scale on?

Accepted Answer

The number of AI systems under management. Starter covers up to 5 AI systems ($199/mo), Team covers up to 25 ($799/mo), Enterprise is unlimited with custom pricing.

Question 16

Are all four frameworks included at every tier?

Accepted Answer

Yes. EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, and AIUC-1 are included at Starter, Team, and Enterprise — no upsell to unlock frameworks.

Frequently asked questions.

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See how Hydrus turns compliance work into evidence.