Engagement · Readiness Review

Start with what a regulator would actually find.

A four-week structured privacy diagnostic against the regulator that matters to you — KSA PDPL, India DPDP Act 2023, UAE PDPL, GDPR or any combination. Fixed scope. Fixed fee. Senior practitioner-led, end-to-end. The output is a finding register your board can act on within thirty days.

Duration

4 working weeks
3 weeks (rush, +25%)

Fee bands

SAR 65,000 — 180,000+
By scope and entity count

Engagement model

Fixed scope · Fixed fee
50/50 milestone billing

01 — What you get

Four defensible deliverables.

The output of a Readiness Review is a finite, named deliverable set — not a slide deck. Every artefact is written in the format an external auditor or regulator would expect to see, so the work survives review long after the engagement closes.

D-01

Maturity scorecard

Your current state mapped against the regulation in scope, scored on a five-level model. Same scoring methodology a regulator uses on inspection — not a vendor's branded "privacy score."

  • 5-level maturity model per clause
  • Per-domain heat map
  • Comparator benchmark to peer enterprises
D-02

Regulator-style finding register

Every gap documented as a finding — clause-anchored, severity-rated, control-owner assigned. Written in the same format your DPO will recognise from any external audit, ISO certification or regulator inspection.

  • Clause-anchored findings
  • Severity rating (Critical / High / Medium / Low)
  • Named owner per finding
D-03

Prioritized remediation roadmap

A sequenced 6 — 12 month roadmap. Material risk first, defensibility next, optimisation last — with costed bands, dependencies, and a critical-path view your CFO can sign off.

  • Sequenced quarter-by-quarter view
  • Costed bands per workstream
  • Dependencies and critical path mapped
D-04

Board-ready summary memo

A two-page memo your board can read in five minutes — current state, top three risks, recommended next steps, and the specific decisions the board needs to take. No jargon, no padding.

  • Two-page executive memo
  • Top 3 risks, plain language
  • Specific board decisions required
02 — The process

Four weeks, structured.

The engagement runs to a documented timeline. You will know what is happening, who is doing it, and what the next deliverable is — every week.

WEEK 01

Scoping & kickoff

Joint scoping call to confirm regulators in scope, entities covered and the timeline. Document request issued, NDA executed, named practice lead introduced.

WEEK 02

Diagnostic interviews

Structured interviews with DPO, CISO, IT, marketing, HR and legal. Review of existing privacy notices, contracts, RoPA (if any), DPIAs and breach playbook.

WEEK 03

Drafting & internal QC

Findings drafted to regulator-style format. Internal QC review against firm methodology. Draft shared with you for factual accuracy check before final.

WEEK 04

Final report & readout

Final report, finding register, roadmap and board memo delivered. Optional 90-minute board readout where we present findings and answer questions live.

03 — Who it's for

Right fit, and not.

We are deliberate about which engagements we accept. A Readiness Review is the right starting point for some organisations and the wrong one for others — and we'd rather tell you up front.

Strong fit

Multi-jurisdiction operators

Groups operating across two or more of KSA, UAE, the wider GCC and India — where regulator surface is real and growing.

Boards approaching scrutiny

Organisations approaching ZATCA, SDAIA, DPDP Board or GCC regulator inspection — and the privacy program has to hold up to it.

Acquisition / IPO candidates

Enterprises preparing for diligence where a defensible privacy posture is no longer optional. Diligence questions arrive faster than answers.

First-time external review

Organisations that have built privacy in-house but never had an external practitioner audit it. The blind-spot risk alone is worth the engagement.

Probably not a fit

Pen-test or security-only need

If the question is technical security testing or vulnerability assessment, this isn't the engagement — that's a separate cybersecurity scope.

Mature in-house DPO, single jurisdiction

If you have a senior in-house DPO running a single-jurisdiction program, you may need a targeted second opinion — not a full review. Talk to us about a standing advisory retainer instead.

Last-week-before-inspection emergencies

If a regulator letter has already arrived and the inspection is in seven days, this is the wrong shape of engagement. Speak to us about an interim DPO or breach response retainer.

Privacy theatre

If what's wanted is a polished report to wave at the board with no intent to act on it, we will not be the right firm. We don't do privacy theatre.

04 — What it costs

Fixed-fee, banded by scope.

No retainer pressure, no time-and-materials creep. The fee is agreed in the engagement letter and held to milestone-billed delivery: 50% on engagement-letter signature, 50% on final report delivery.

Fee bands

Single jurisdiction · single legal entity
e.g. KSA only, one operating entity
SAR 65 — 95k
Two jurisdictions · multi-entity
e.g. KSA + UAE, three to five entities
SAR 110 — 165k
Group-wide · three+ jurisdictions
Custom-scoped engagement letter
SAR 180k+

What is included

  • Senior practitioner time, end-to-end
  • All scoping, interviews and document review
  • Draft and final report, finding register
  • Remediation roadmap and board memo
  • One 90-minute board readout session
  • Travel beyond Riyadh / Bengaluru / Mumbai (at cost)
  • Platform deployment or technical implementation
  • Ongoing remediation work (separate retainer)
05 — Who runs it

A named senior signs the report.

Every Readiness Review is led personally by a senior member of the practice and signed off before delivery. There is no junior-staffed delivery model and no "we'll have someone get back to you" handoff.

SC

Senior Privacy Counsel

Practice Lead — Regulatory Advisory

Day-to-day regulatory liaison across KSA SDAIA, UAE Data Office and India DPDP Board. Personally signs off every Readiness Review report before delivery, and is named on the engagement letter as the responsible practitioner — not as an account manager.

For multi-jurisdictional engagements, additional senior practitioners are named for the specific regulators in scope. The lead remains constant for the full four weeks.

"The point of a readiness review is not to look good. It is to know — and to have a defensible roadmap before someone else writes one for you."
06 — Honest scope

What this does not do.

We are clear about scope boundaries before the engagement starts. The Readiness Review is a finite diagnostic — not a perpetual subscription, not a remediation engagement, not a regulatory submission.

N — 01

It is not a remediation engagement

We diagnose the gaps; you decide what to do next. If you want us to lead the remediation, that is a separate project engagement with its own scope.

N — 02

It is not an audit certification

Findings are not lodged with any regulator on your behalf. The deliverable is internal-use, written to regulator-quality standards but not filed externally.

N — 03

It is not a substitute for in-house counsel

We surface legal questions and frame regulatory exposure. We do not provide legal opinion as primary counsel — your in-house or external lawyers retain that role.

N — 04

It is not a perpetual subscription

The deliverable set is finite. Engagement ends when the final report is delivered. Ongoing work — remediation, DPOaaS, advisory retainer — is contracted separately.

07 — Common questions

Things people ask us.

The questions below come up on most kickoff calls. If yours is not here, the contact form below is the right place to ask — a senior member of the practice will respond within one working day.

How long does the engagement take?
Four working weeks from engagement-letter signature. In urgent cases we offer a three-week rush at a 25% premium with reduced interview depth — though honestly, we do not recommend it. Privacy posture rarely benefits from being assessed in a hurry.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes — a mutual NDA is signed before kickoff in every engagement, no exceptions. We have our own template if you do not have one. We are also comfortable signing client-specific NDAs as long as scope and term are reasonable.
Can you cover regulators not on your standard list?
Often, yes. We have run engagements covering Egyptian PDPL, Turkish KVKK, Singapore PDPA and Pakistan PDPA on bespoke scope. Tell us what you need on the intake form and we will say honestly whether it is a fit.
What if the findings are bad?
They sometimes are. The point of the review is to know — and to have a defensible roadmap before the regulator writes one for you. We do not editorialise findings to make them more comfortable, and we do not soften the severity rating to manage the relationship.
Can we engage you for the remediation afterwards?
If you want us to. Many clients move directly to a project engagement (for finite remediation workstreams) or a DPO-as-a-Service retainer (for ongoing oversight) once the Readiness Review report is delivered. Both are scoped and contracted separately.
Do you work with venture capital / private equity portfolio companies?
Yes — both for diligence support and for portfolio-wide privacy uplift programs. PE/VC engagements often have shorter scoping timelines and tighter board reporting cadences; we accommodate this in the engagement letter.
What languages do you deliver in?
English by default. Arabic-language deliverables and bilingual board readouts are available on KSA / UAE / GCC engagements at no premium when notified at scoping. Hindi-language working sessions for India engagements available on request.
08 — Request the review

Brief us on the regulator.

A senior member of the practice will respond within one working day with a proposed scoping call. Submissions are reviewed by a practitioner — never a sales desk.

Senior practitioner response within 1 working day · Submissions are not passed to a sales desk

Or just talk to us first.

Not sure if a Readiness Review is the right starting point? A 30-minute call costs nothing. We will tell you honestly whether it is the right shape of engagement for what you are trying to do — and what is, if it isn't.

Schedule a call