Maintaining Momentum Through Change: Hyliion’s Journey to CMMC Level 2 Certification

At a Glance

Snapshot

Hyliion designs advanced power generation systems that help businesses and critical facilities access dependable, cleaner energy where and when they need it. With work supporting federal government customers and obligations under DFARS requirements, achieving Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 became an important business priority.

What began as a compliance initiative evolved into a multi-year transformation focused on creating a sustainable cybersecurity program. Hyliion already possessed strong technical capabilities, but converting those capabilities into a fully documented, auditable, and repeatable compliance environment required coordination across technology, people, and processes.

Over the course of several engagements, Alluvionic worked alongside Hyliion to guide remediation efforts, maintain momentum through organizational and technology transitions, and ultimately help the company build lasting internal ownership. In July 2026, Hyliion successfully achieved CMMC Level 2 Certification, positioning the company to pursue future federal opportunities with confidence while strengthening its long-term cybersecurity posture.

The Stakes

As Hyliion expanded its federal business and supported programs subject to DFARS cybersecurity requirements, establishing and validating a CMMC Level 2 compliant environment became critical to maintaining eligibility for government opportunities and protecting future growth.

Failure to achieve compliance could have introduced risk to contract opportunities, increased operational burdens, and limited the organization’s ability to compete in a federal marketplace increasingly focused on cybersecurity maturity.

Their objective was to create a cybersecurity program capable not only of meeting current requirements, but of sustaining compliance long after certification was achieved.

The Starting Point

Hyliion entered the engagement from a position of strength.

Key cybersecurity capabilities were already in place, including audit logging, privileged account monitoring, vulnerability management, endpoint protection, and security alerting across systems supporting CUI. A relatively small CUI user population also provided a well-defined scope from which to build.

The challenge was aligning documentation, technical implementations, operational processes, evidence collection, and governance into a single, defensible compliance framework capable of withstanding independent assessment.

Like many organizations navigating multi-year initiatives, Hyliion also experienced changes in personnel, technology providers, and operational responsibilities over time. Ensuring continuity despite those transitions became an important component of long-term readiness.

Why Hyliion Chose Alluvionic

Hyliion needed a partner capable of combining cybersecurity expertise with disciplined program execution. Success depended on maintaining forward momentum across multiple phases of work while coordinating stakeholders, tracking remediation activities, validating evidence, and preparing internal teams to eventually own the program themselves.

Alluvionic’s approach aligned with Hyliion’s goals by focusing equally on achieving certification and building a sustainable operating model that could adapt as the organization evolved.

The Journey

The partnership began in 2023 with a formal CMMC Level 2 gap analysis and initial remediation effort.

The first phase established baseline compliance documentation and provided Hyliion with a clear roadmap for addressing identified gaps. A second phase focused on completing remediation activities and further maturing the program’s technical and administrative controls.

As requirements evolved and the organization continued to grow, the engagement transitioned into an ongoing compliance sustainment model. Alluvionic provided recurring subject matter expertise to support policy maintenance, NIST scorecard updates, POA&M execution, SSP refinement, and readiness activities leading up to the independent assessment.

Throughout the engagement, both organizations remained focused on preserving momentum despite the routine personnel and technology transitions that occur in any growing business. Rather than allowing progress to become dependent on specific individuals, the teams concentrated on institutionalizing knowledge and creating repeatable processes.

Guides, responsibility matrices, and a centralized SharePoint knowledge repository provided continuity as responsibilities shifted. This enabled new contributors to become productive quickly while preserving the integrity of the compliance program.

By the time the C3PAO assessment began, Hyliion was not merely prepared for an audit. The company had established a cybersecurity governance model capable of supporting compliance as an ongoing business function.

That work culminated in July 2026 when Hyliion successfully achieved CMMC Level 2 Certification.

Results and Business Impact

Hyliion’s CMMC journey delivered measurable cybersecurity gains while creating the structure, visibility, and internal ownership needed to sustain compliance long term.

• 131-point SPRS score improvement, moving from -21 to 110 and demonstrating measurable cybersecurity maturity.
• CMMC Level 2 Certification achieved in July 2026, strengthening Hyliion’s eligibility for future federal contracting opportunities.
• 110 NIST SP 800-171 practices supported and maintained, helping protect Controlled Unclassified Information.
• Executive visibility improved through compliance dashboards, recurring reporting, and clearer governance.
• Internal ownership strengthened, allowing Hyliion to sustain compliance beyond certification and adapt through organizational change.

Lessons Learned

Compliance Readiness Must Become an Operating Rhythm

Certification is a milestone, not a finish line.

Hyliion’s success came from embedding compliance activities into normal business operations through recurring reviews, evidence management, scorecard maintenance, and governance processes. As a result, readiness became part of how the organization operated rather than a project conducted before an assessment.

Continuity Matters as Much as Controls

Even strong cybersecurity programs can lose momentum when knowledge becomes concentrated in a handful of individuals.

By investing in documentation, ownership models, onboarding processes, and knowledge transfer mechanisms, Hyliion maintained progress through personnel and organizational changes while preserving institutional knowledge.

Partnerships Should Build Independence

The most effective compliance partnerships create lasting internal capability.

Rather than relying indefinitely on outside support, Hyliion focused on developing the resources, processes, and governance needed to manage compliance confidently over the long term.

“This was a genuine partnership from the 2023 gap analysis through certification in 2026. Alluvionic brought the subject matter expertise and program discipline to keep us on track through every transition, while our internal team owned the technical implementation, evidence, and documentation that made a 110/110 SPRS score and zero POA&M items possible. What I’m most proud of is that we didn’t just pass an assessment — we built a compliance program our team can run on its own going forward.”

Pradeep Vulli, VP & Head of IT, Hyliion

Bottom Line

Hyliion’s CMMC journey was not simply a certification project. It was a multi-year effort to build a resilient cybersecurity program that could support business growth, protect future federal opportunities, and adapt as the organization evolved.

Through a sustained partnership focused on both technical excellence and operational continuity, Hyliion transformed compliance from a collection of requirements into a durable business capability. The result was not only a successful CMMC Level 2 certification, but a stronger foundation for the company’s future.

Pursuing CMMC Level 2?

Alluvionic can help you validate your readiness, close remaining gaps, and strengthen your CMMC program for what comes next.

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