Standardizing SOC 2 Evidence with Software
Sam Li and Austin Ogilvie, co-CEOs of Laika, on the compliance-as-a-service business model
The strategic point is that SOC 2 is less like a machine run to a fixed recipe, and more like a judgment heavy professional service where the auditor shapes the experience and, to a real degree, the output.The AICPA sets the common rulebook, but firms still differ in scoping, testing depth, evidence standards, and how much they lean on screenshots versus system data. That is why compliance software wins by standardizing the messy middle, collecting the same underlying evidence every hour, mapping it to controls, and giving both the company and the auditor a cleaner starting point.
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Big firms like EY tend to package SOC 2 inside a broader assurance practice, with readiness work, formal examination, and cross framework coordination. Specialists like Coalfire position around cybersecurity depth, multi framework assessments, and higher audit volume. Small audit shops can be cheaper and more flexible, but process quality depends much more on individual staff.
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The practical difference shows up in the workflow. In the old model, auditors sampled employees, sat in the office, reviewed screenshots, and wrote the report from notes. Newer platforms pull data directly from AWS, Google Workspace, GitHub, HR systems, and ticketing tools, then present the same evidence to the company and auditor in a structured way.
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That variation is exactly why Vanta, Laika, and Secureframe sell recurring software instead of one time prep projects. They are not replacing the CPA opinion, they are reducing interpretation drift by making controls more prescriptive, evidence more complete, and annual renewals easier to repeat across SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and other frameworks.
The market is heading toward more standardized evidence and more software assisted audit work, not toward eliminating auditors. The winners will be the platforms that become the operating system between company systems and external assessors, because they make audits faster, more consistent, and easier to extend into every other trust framework a customer needs next.