The Complete Guide to SOC 2 Automation [2026]

SOC 2 is a compliance framework that validates how an organization protects customer data based on five principles called Trust Services Criteria (TSC). It gives buyers and stakeholders trust and confidence in your security posture.

Achieving SOC 2 can be expensive and time-consuming. One of the ways to streamline the process is SOC 2 automation. But even automation doesn’t mean you can set and forget your compliance program.

While automation tools like Vanta can handle repetitive and systematic tasks, critical decisions, risk assessments, and control design still require human judgment and oversight.

Here’s everything you need to know about SOC 2 automation and continuous compliance.

What is SOC 2 Automation?

SOC automation is the process of integrating software that will monitor your company’s security controls by collecting evidence through APIs, and as a result, replace the the time-consuming processes of manually taking screenshots and filing spreadsheets. This old approach is known as manual evidence collection, which is inefficient and labor-intensive compared to automation.

Without automation the evidence gathering process can be cumbersome, with engineers needing to to log into an AWS account, take a screenshot of RDS settings, put it in a Word Document, timestamp it, and email it to an auditor to prove you encrypted your database.

But now, you can cut costs and time by replacing the manual work with automation tools like Vanta. The software replaces that manual process with an automation that queries the AWS API every hour through outputs like “Is encryption enabled? Yes.” It logs this “Yes” then logged as a piece of evidence that can be used for your SOC 2 audit.

What Can be Automated for SOC 2 Compliance

Founders often assume that SOC 2 compliance automation software does everything. But in reality there’s still a lot of human work needed to achieve and maintain SOC 2 compliance.

What automation tools can do though is gather evidence, monitor systems, and streamline many repetitive tasks, making ongoing compliance and audit preparation much easier.

Some tasks simply can't be automated because they require context, interpretation, or subjective assessment. The complexity of compliance requirements means that human oversight is necessary to ensure that evolving regulatory demands are met appropriately.

Here’s what you can use SOC 2 automation tools for:

• Automated evidence collection
• Detecting when an offboarded employee still has an active Slack or GitHub account
• Implementing endpoint security using MDM (Mobile Device Management) integrations
• Vulnerability scanning
• Continuous control and real time monitoring

Here’s What You Can’t Automate

Software alone won’t be able to help you achieve an unqualified SOC 2 report as some tasks need human input and oversight, including:

• Policy writing and enforcement: Automation tools can help you generate template security policies but your internal stakeholders and leadership team will need to have oversight on these. The same goes for incident response plans and physical security plans and protections.
• Risk assessment / management: Software can automate sending security questionnaires but ultimately your team will need to decide what level of risk is appropriate for each acceptable for any partners you onboard.
• Scoping: Deciding which areas of your business will be in scope for your SOC 2 audit.
• Security training: Ensuring your team knows your security processes and follows the workflows outlined in your policies.

The ROI of Automation

Founder time is your most expensive asset. Attempting to manage every SOC 2 compliance process manually doesn't just burn hours, it slows growth. Every moment key leaders spend wrestling with compliance spreadsheets is time stolen from product strategy and sales, effectively stalling the business you’re trying to scale.

Automation tools can help eliminate time spent on tasks like tasks ilike evidence collection and  also significantly reduce audit prep time, often cutting the process from several months to just a few weeks (as we demonstrated with SMART Doc App).

For startups and established businesses alike, SOC 2 compliance can be a major distraction from core business activities. Many organizations face similar challenges and find that automation streamlines compliance efforts, reduces manual labor, and improves overall efficiency.

What You Actually Need from a SOC 2 Compliance Automation Platform

There are plenty of SOC 2 automation tools out there, and if you’re not familiar with each, they can all look fairly similar at a glance.Compliance automation tools are long-term investments that’ll help you long after you’ve successfully completed your SOC 2 audit — handling continuous monitoring and on-going evidence collection.

Here’s what you should look for in a compliance automation tool:

• Continuous monitoring: Continuous monitoring offers 24/7 surveillance, alerting you to risks the moment they appear so you can fix them before they become an issue. ‍
• Risk management: Static spreadsheets soon become unusable and hard to follow. Risk management featured allow you to assign owners, track mitigation tasks in real-time, and keep your documentation audit-ready year-round.‍
• Automated access control: SOC 2 auditors scrutinize who can see your data. A compliance automation tool should help provision tools for new hires and revoke access the second an employee leaves. ‍
• Vulnerability remediation: By integrating with tools like AWS Inspector, automation platforms centralize technical gaps into a single dashboard, allowing your engineering team to identify and patch vulnerabilities without endless context switching.

Final Thoughts: You Don’t Have to Go it Alone

When it comes to SOC 2 prep, I give almost every business owner and stakeholder I speak to the same advice: Don’t go it alone. Even if you’re familiar with SOC 2 controls and automation, compliance experts can help your organization to get audit-ready faster.

As a business leader, you shouldn’t be spending too much of your time on compliance tasks or burdening your in-house engineers with setting up automation software.

The ultimate goal of your compliance journey is to get an an unqualified report - one with zero exceptions. That’s the asset that will build trust and accelerate your pipeline. You’ll often get the quicker and more confidently when you work with an experienced compliance team.

Don't just buy a tool and hope for the best. At Workstreet we offer expert SOC 2 implementation services that get you audit-ready quickly. From Type I to Type II, we'll guide you through every step of the SOC 2 process with proven methodologies.