Owning the Audit Handoff
Sam Li and Austin Ogilvie, co-CEOs of Laika, on the compliance-as-a-service business model
This reveals that compliance automation becomes much larger once the software owns the audit handoff, not just the prep work. Laika started by collecting evidence and checking controls, but found the real bottleneck was the moment a CPA auditor stepped in and re-asked for proof. By giving auditors access to the same connected system, Laika can turn a one time prep tool into a system of record for readiness, audit execution, and ongoing buyer due diligence.
-
The practical gap is that a company can connect AWS, GitHub, Google Workspace, HR systems, and policy workflows, yet still hit a messy manual audit because auditors often work from screenshots, spreadsheets, and separate evidence requests. Laika built around that handoff problem, not just checklist completion.
-
This is also where the business model expands. Instead of charging only for annual prep and recertification, the platform can serve two paying constituencies, the company being audited and the audit firm using the same data pipes to complete more audits with less manual review. Comparable platforms like Vanta and Secureframe followed the same path with auditor views and audit partner workflows.
-
The broader market is every framework that shares overlapping controls, plus adjacent work like security questionnaires and trust reporting. Drata shows where this leads, from SOC 2 automation into multi framework monitoring, trust centers, access governance, and developer security, all built on the same integrations and compliance data layer.
The next phase of the category is a shift from audit prep software into full trust infrastructure. Winners will own the live map between a company’s systems, its controls, its auditors, and its buyers, which raises ACV, increases retention, and pushes the category beyond SOC 2 into broader security operations and enterprise trust workflows.