By Gertude Van Horn, CIO, Cien.ai

“We can’t believe you got that done in less than 2 weeks. Everyone else have spent months with our procurement dept“

– Big 4 Consulting Partner, after Cien.ai got approved

When a Missed Checkbox Costs Millions

If your tech company interacts with customer data, InfoSec reviews are a non-negotiable step in almost every client deal. Unfortunately, they’re rarely standardized. One client may send a 250-question security questionnaire, another a procurement portal with file uploads and e-signature attestations. The one thing they all share? They are tedious, high stakes, and can derail deals if mishandled.

Mistakes matter. An incomplete answer, a missing certification, or even a misrepresented response can result in a red flag that stalls the sales process—or worse, causes a promising opportunity to go cold.

Get Organized. Automate What You Can. Stay Proactive.

Passing these reviews fast is possible, but only if you’re methodical. Assuming your company has the necessary certifications like SOC 2, GDPR-compliant DPIAs, and others, here’s the 3-part playbook:

1. Get Your Docs in Order. Maintain a centralized, access-controlled repository of all InfoSec assets—certifications,assessments, policies, and process diagrams. Keep everything clearly labeled and version-controlled, and ensure you can share under NDA without jumping through hoops.

2. Minimize Sales Team Disruption. Your sales reps shouldn’t be spending hours interpreting security questions. Create internal workflows and shared trackers so that once a request is received, it’s routed to the right person without derailing the deal team’s momentum.

3. Be Proactive, Not Reactive. Ask your client’s procurement or security contact: “Are there any unclear areas?” or “What might be flagged?” This simple follow-up can prevent miscommunications that often tank a submission. Misinterpretation is one of the most common reasons security approvals get rejected or stalled.

What Success Looks Like

At Cien.ai, we developed an internal AI agent trained on our InfoSec documentation and equipped with clear rules on how to answer hundreds of standard security questions. When we get a new vendor review request, the system can auto-draft responses, flag ambiguities, and highlight missing documents. The result? Our approval process is completed in days—not months—saving hours of back-and-forth and helping our sales team stay focused on revenue, not red tape.

About the Cien.ai Data Exec Series

This article is part of our Data Exec Series, inspired by our work with B2B business leaders, growth consultants, and PE operating partners. These articles focus on the aspects of becoming a data-driven executive, ready for the AI revolution. If you’re more interested in improving go-to-market performance, check out our Growth Essentials Series and Practical RevOps AnalyticsSeries.