AI and regulatory strategy for leaders who can't afford to get it wrong.

Frequently asked

What leaders usually ask us first.

Short answers to the questions that show up in almost every discovery call. If yours isn't here, email s@virtova.co.

Who is Sultan Meghji?

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Sultan Meghji is the founder of Virtova LLC and the inaugural Chief Innovation Officer of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (2021–2022), where he built the agency's first innovation division. He is also Co-Founder and CEO of Frontier Foundry Corporation and a Fellow at the George Mason University National Security Institute.

What does Virtova do?

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Virtova is a boutique advisory firm on AI, regulation, cybersecurity, and digital transformation for regulated industries. Founded in 2009 and based in Washington, D.C., Virtova works with senior leaders in banking, insurance, healthcare, private equity, and U.S. and allied government agencies. Engagements are led personally by founder Sultan Meghji.

Is Sultan Meghji a former FDIC official?

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Yes. Sultan Meghji served as the inaugural Chief Innovation Officer of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from 2021 to 2022. He built the FDIC's first innovation division, hired forty professionals, and led policy work on AI, quantum computing, digital assets, digital identity, and cybersecurity for the U.S. banking system.

What is a fractional Chief AI Officer?

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A fractional Chief AI Officer is a part-time senior executive (typically engaged two to three days a week for three to twelve months) who owns an organization's AI strategy, governance, and delivery while embedded alongside existing leadership. The role ends in a named permanent hire. Virtova's fractional CAIO engagements are led personally by Sultan Meghji.

What is the NIST AI RMF?

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The NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0, released January 2023) is the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology's voluntary framework for managing AI risk. It is organized around four functions (Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage) and is the shared vocabulary U.S. federal agencies, auditors, and large customers use when evaluating AI governance.

What is the EU AI Act?

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The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) is the European Union's risk-based regulation of artificial intelligence systems, in force from 2024 with obligations phasing in through 2026 and beyond. It applies extraterritorially to non-EU firms whose AI output is used in the EU, including many U.S. banks, insurers, and portfolio companies with European customers.

Does Virtova work with U.S. banks?

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Yes. U.S. banking (regional, mid-size, and global institutions) is a core Virtova practice. Work includes NIST AI RMF alignment, EU AI Act readiness, model risk management under the interagency guidance (SR 11-7 / SR 21-8 in legacy form, SR 26-2 from April 17, 2026), the parallel governance discipline the agencies tell banks to build for the generative and agentic AI SR 26-2 explicitly leaves out of formal scope, third-party risk, and fractional CAIO or CISO engagements. Virtova's perspective is informed by Sultan Meghji's tenure inside the FDIC.

Does Virtova do M&A technical diligence?

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Yes. Virtova provides technology due diligence for private equity sponsors and strategic acquirers, from pre-LOI quick-looks through formal diligence to post-close integration planning and portfolio-company fractional CTO coverage. Prior engagements span multi-billion-dollar funds and their portfolio companies in financial services, healthcare, and industrial technology.

How does Virtova price engagements?

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Virtova engagements are scoped by outcome, not hours. Advisory sprints of four to six weeks are fixed-fee. Fractional executive engagements run on monthly retainer tied to defined deliverables and succession milestones. Due-diligence reviews are priced per transaction. Virtova does not publish rate cards; fees are quoted after a discovery call and a written scope.

Where is Virtova based?

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Virtova LLC is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and was founded in 2009. The firm regularly works on-site with clients across the United States, United Kingdom, and continental Europe; most project work is hybrid, punctuated by in-person working sessions at key milestones.

How does Frontier Foundry relate to Virtova?

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Frontier Foundry Corporation is a separate legal entity, also founded by Sultan Meghji, that produces secured-AI products including CyberAudit and Monui. Virtova is the boutique advisory firm; Frontier Foundry is the product entity. Both share ownership. Virtova advisory engagements remain vendor-neutral; no Virtova recommendation is contingent on engaging Frontier Foundry.

What is SR 11-7?

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SR 11-7 is the U.S. Federal Reserve Supervisory Letter codifying the 2011 interagency Supervisory Guidance on Model Risk Management (also issued as OCC Bulletin 2011-12 and FDIC FIL 22-2017). It sets supervisory expectations for U.S. banks on model inventory, validation, documentation, ongoing monitoring, and governance, and it has served as the foundational document for bank model risk management for fifteen years.

What is SR 26-2?

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SR 26-2 is the April 17, 2026 interagency update to the Supervisory Guidance on Model Risk Management, issued by the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC. It supersedes SR 11-7 (2011) and SR 21-8 (2021 BSA/AML model-risk extension), preserves the SR 11-7 framework with a more explicit risk-based and materiality-driven posture, and is most relevant to banking organizations with more than $30 billion in total assets. SR 26-2 explicitly excludes generative AI and agentic AI from formal scope (footnote 3) — the agencies describe these technologies as novel and rapidly evolving — and applies to traditional statistical and quantitative models and to non-generative, non-agentic AI models. The same footnote tells banks to use the SR 26-2 principles to guide governance and controls for the tools, processes, and systems the guidance does not formally cover.

What is the GENIUS Act?

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The GENIUS Act is the U.S. payment-stablecoin regulatory framework, establishing federal and state regimes for the issuance, reserve management, and supervisory oversight of payment stablecoins. It creates a structured pathway for stablecoin issuers and integrates the resulting product into U.S. banking and consumer-protection regulation.

What is the CLARITY Act?

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The CLARITY Act is the U.S. digital-asset market-structure framework that allocates jurisdictional responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for digital-asset markets. It defines the rules under which digital-asset platforms, intermediaries, and products operate within the U.S. regulatory perimeter.