Compliance Software Augments Human Experts
Sam Li and Austin Ogilvie, co-CEOs of Laika, on the compliance-as-a-service business model
The winning product in compliance is not pure automation, it is software that makes experts dramatically more efficient. Laika is positioning around the messy parts that dashboards alone cannot finish, turning API based evidence collection, policy workflows, and continuous checks into a system that companies and outside auditors both use, so the handoff into the actual audit does not break when an auditor needs judgment, interpretation, and independent review.
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Laika is not trying to replace auditors with a self serve green checkmark product. It connects AWS, GitHub, HR and ticketing systems, runs monitors, and then gives auditors access to the same underlying data, because a SOC 2 still has to be signed by an independent CPA and auditors will not simply accept software outputs at face value.
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This is replacing a chunk of the old consultant workflow, but not the whole services layer. Vanta and Secureframe both describe the pre software world as founders paying consultants and auditors tens of thousands of dollars, then manually gathering screenshots and documents. The new model removes much of that grunt work, while keeping expert guidance for setup, remediation, and audit prep.
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The market has rewarded the companies that automate first, then widen into broader security workflows. Vanta reached an estimated $220M ARR by July 2025, versus Drata at $98M by January 2025, and is pushing beyond annual certification into vendor risk, trust sharing, and continuous monitoring. That evolution matters because audit prep alone is episodic, while ongoing security workflows create more durable usage.
The category is heading toward a blended model where software handles the repetitive evidence work and specialists handle interpretation, exceptions, and audit signoff. Over time, more of the consultant playbook will become product, but the durable companies will be the ones that own both sides of the workflow, the company preparing for audit and the expert validating it.