SecurityPal has set out to end the dreaded security review with an AI-driven platform designed to help companies drive revenue and growth by swiftly navigating the chaotic and time-draining assessment process.
Security assessments are one of the top blockers within sales. Typically they involve chasing down answers to hundreds of questions that steal time from winning deals, protecting companies, and delivering value to customers.
SecurityPal cuts down that mountain of paperwork with a consolidated platform that boasts a 90% completion rate and 24-hour turnarounds.
With OpenAI scaling at high speed, Head of Governance, Risk and Compliance Nick Hamilton knew he needed an external vendor to help navigate the security review process. He did short trials with three companies offering security review services, but SecurityPal was different right out of the box, he said.
“They were willing to partner with us to codify our process and to work with us to improve that quickly over time,” he said.
This commitment to collaborate and evolve gives clients confidence that the company will meet their needs as they understand them.
“I can’t overstate how important it is that they’re easy to work with. I can give them any feedback, and they will work with us to implement it,” Hamilton said. “That’s a huge differentiating factor.”
SecurityPal was born out of founder and CEO Pukar Hamal’s personal frustration with the challenges around security reviews.
“That planted the seed that something needed to get done,” said Hamal, a serial entrepreneur and investor. “And then as I talked to other technology and security leaders, I realized that this was a bigger and bigger challenge, and it really validated the idea. When we started booking revenue and closing deals, that was the sign that this was something that could sustain itself.”
SecurityPal’s solution, powered by artificial intelligence but verified by humans, offers consistent and accurate responses – a critical benchmark to maintain compliance and customer trust.
Automation speeds things up vastly, but the human element – a team of security analysts that scrutinizes the results — is critical to make the call that the answer is good. That helps give clients more confidence in the process, Hamal said.
Companies need to demonstrate assurance to their customers instantly and in real time when their customers demand it, and that is going to be a big differentiating competitive advantage, Hamal said.
“The faster higher quality assurance that you can deliver, and the faster higher quality assurance that you can get, puts you on the best footing for the future. And that is what we’re helping companies really drive towards.”
SecurityPal has become the go-to partner for companies ranging from fast-growing startups to Fortune 100 firms. On average, each of them receives 100 questionnaires a year. A team of one to two people would be required to complete that manually, Hamal said.
“They’re reclaiming thousands of hours of productivity every year,” he said of customers. “And it’s not just about getting the job done. It’s how do you draw insights from that data? How do you help the company position itself with the market that it’s going after? How do we help position those companies to deliver much better assurance to their customers.”
SecurfityPal started out on the sell side, helping companies selling a product or service to do it faster. But now it’s on the buy side as well, helping companies obtain a robust understanding of their vendors.
“Nth party management is going to be a core component,” Hamal said.
Companies need to prepare themselves to be meticulously scrutinized around any AI offerings they may have, he said.
“A lot of companies are embedding AI into their solutions, and that AI needs a lot of data to work, and so the scrutiny for companies is increasing due to AI requirements and regulations,” he said. “There are more data privacy and security regulations that are going into effect across the United States as well as globally. It’s a massive trend.”
Hamal takes pride that SecurityPal, which has raised $21 million from investors including Craft Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz partner Martin Casado, isn’t willing to grow at all costs.
“We’re trying to grow responsibly so that we’re around for our customers, not just for over the next year, but for the next give, ten years and beyond,” he said. “We look at our financial health as a key component of our business resiliency.”