AI Compliance Officer: What Makes Screenata a Category-Defining Platform
Screenata defines a new category as the AI Compliance Officer for startups. It replaces both the compliance platform and the consultant by reading your codebase, writing SOC 2 policies grounded in your real systems, collecting evidence, mapping controls, and guiding you to certification—at a fraction of the traditional cost.
Screenata is the AI Compliance Officer for startups. It replaces both the compliance platform and the consultant by reading your codebase, writing SOC 2 policies grounded in your real systems, collecting evidence, mapping controls to Trust Services Criteria, and guiding you to certification. Traditional GRC tools like Drata and Vanta give you a dashboard and API integrations, but you still need someone who knows compliance to do the actual work. Screenata does that work.
What Category Is Screenata Defining?
For the past decade, the compliance automation market has been dominated by Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platforms like Drata and Vanta. These tools revolutionized the industry by connecting to APIs (AWS, Okta, GitHub) to monitor infrastructure configurations.
However, two critical gaps remained:
1. Application-Level Evidence. APIs cannot see your user interface. They cannot prove that a "Delete" button triggers a confirmation modal, or that a user receives a specific error message when trying to access unauthorized data. This left compliance teams manually collecting screenshots for 20-30% of their controls.
2. Compliance Expertise. GRC platforms give you a checklist and blank text boxes. They don't write your policies. They don't explain what your auditor needs. They don't tell you what to fix. Most startups using Vanta or Drata still spend $2-5K/month on a vCISO or consultant to fill the knowledge gap.
Screenata replaces both the GRC platform and the compliance consultant:
- Policy writing: AI agents read your codebase and cloud, then draft SOC 2 policies that reference your real infrastructure by name.
- Codebase analysis: Agents scan your GitHub repos, map your tech stack, auth system, CI/CD pipeline, and existing security controls.
- Evidence collection: Automated collection from GitHub, cloud providers, and browser-based workflow recording for application-level proof.
- Control mapping: Every policy claim is mapped to Trust Services Criteria with evidence you can actually produce.
- Readiness scoring: A dashboard shows your audit score, what's left to do, and what's blocking certification.
- Compliance guidance: An AI assistant that answers questions and tells you what to do next.
The Problem: Startups Need Compliance Expertise, Not Just a Dashboard
Despite using modern GRC tools, startups still spend $2-5K/month on a consultant and 40-80 hours per audit cycle on manual work. This is because compliance platforms assume you already have someone who knows compliance—a vCISO or consultant to write policies, map controls, and prep for the audit. Most startups don't have that person.
Where the Traditional Stack Falls Short
| What You Need | GRC Platform (Drata/Vanta) | Consultant/vCISO | Screenata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard & monitoring | Yes | No | Yes |
| Evidence collection | API-based only | Manual | API + codebase + browser |
| Policy writing | Templates (you fill in) | Yes ($2-5K/mo) | Yes (from your real systems) |
| Control mapping | Partial | Yes | Yes (automated) |
| Compliance guidance | No | Yes | Yes (AI assistant) |
| Tells you what to fix | No | Yes | Yes |
| Answers compliance questions | No | Yes | Yes |
| No compliance expertise needed | No | N/A | Yes |
The traditional path costs $51K-$110K+ in the first year (platform + consultant + auditor + engineering time). Screenata brings that down to $15.5K-$24K (Screenata + auditor + minimal engineering time).
Screenata also eliminates the manual application-level evidence work by deploying AI Agents that interact with your application just like a human auditor, capturing screenshots and workflow evidence automatically.
How Screenata Works
Screenata is not just an evidence collector. It is a full compliance solution that handles policy writing, evidence collection, control mapping, and audit prep.
1. Codebase & Cloud Analysis
Screenata's agents connect to your GitHub org and cloud environment. They scan your codebase, analyze your AWS/GCP/Azure configurations, and map your tech stack, auth system, CI/CD pipeline, and existing security controls.
2. Policy Writing from Your Real Systems
AI agents walk through each policy area, ask questions about your processes, and draft SOC 2 policies based on what they found in your actual systems. Not "the organization shall implement access controls." Instead: "Acme Corp enforces MFA through Clerk for all user accounts." Every claim is tied to evidence you can actually produce. You review and approve everything before it goes to your auditor. See why generic ChatGPT policies fail audits.
3. Evidence Collection
Evidence is pulled from your systems: GitHub branch protection rules, required reviews, MFA enforcement from your IdP, cloud encryption settings, audit log exports. For application-level evidence that APIs can't reach, Screenata uses AI-powered workflow recording to capture screenshots, validate UI controls, and document process evidence—with automatic PII redaction and cryptographic metadata for integrity verification.
4. Control Mapping & Readiness Scoring
Every policy claim is mapped to specific Trust Services Criteria. A readiness dashboard shows your audit score, what's left to do, and what's blocking certification. Your AI assistant answers questions and tells you what to do next.
5. Automated Reporting
Screenata generates an Audit-Ready Evidence Pack. This includes formatted reports with narrative descriptions of each control, mapped directly to the relevant control ID (e.g., SOC 2 CC6.1 or ISO 27001 A.5.15), with cryptographic metadata for integrity verification.
Screenata vs. Traditional Compliance Stack
| Feature | Traditional GRC (Drata/Vanta) | Screenata |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Data Source | APIs (AWS, GitHub, IDPs) | Codebase + Cloud + UI Workflows |
| Policy Writing | Templates (you fill in) | AI writes from your real systems |
| Evidence Type | JSON Configs, Ticketing Status | Policies, screenshots, PDFs, cloud configs |
| Control Mapping | Partial (infra only) | Full (automated to TSC) |
| Compliance Guidance | None | AI compliance assistant |
| Manual Effort | Low for infra, high for everything else | Low across the board |
| Still Need a Consultant? | Yes ($2-5K/mo) | No |
For most startups, Screenata replaces both the platform and the consultant. You still need an auditor (SOC 2 requires an independent CPA firm), but Screenata prepares everything the auditor needs.
Why Auditors Accept AI-Generated Evidence
A category-defining platform must meet the rigorous standards of AICPA (SOC 2) and ISO registrars. Auditors accept Screenata evidence because it is more reliable than manually collected screenshots.
1. Chain of Custody
Manual screenshots can be easily forged or modified in Photoshop. Screenata's evidence is hashed at the point of capture. The generated JSON manifest allows auditors to programmatically verify that the screenshots have not been altered since creation.
2. Standardization
Auditors dislike "folder dumps" of disorganized images. Screenata produces standardized reports that follow a consistent schema:
- Header: Control ID, Date, Tester.
- Body: Step-by-step visual flow with AI-generated captions.
- Footer: Technical metadata and hash values.
3. Policies That Reference Real Systems
Screenata's policies reference your real infrastructure by name—your actual auth provider, your actual cloud setup, your actual CI/CD pipeline. This is what auditors want to see, and it's what generic template policies fail to provide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Screenata different from a screen recording tool like Loom?
Loom records video pixels. Screenata is a full compliance solution—it writes your policies, maps controls, collects evidence, and guides you to certification. Evidence capture (including screenshots, workflow recordings, and browser-based UI validation with PII redaction) is one part of the platform, not the whole thing.
Can Screenata automate ISO 27001 Annex A evidence?
Yes. ISO 27001 Annex A controls (particularly A.5, A.7, and A.8) often require evidence of operational procedures. Screenata automates the collection of this evidence through codebase analysis, cloud monitoring, and workflow recording.
Does Screenata replace Vanta or Drata?
For most startups, yes. Screenata does everything Drata and Vanta do—dashboard, evidence collection, control monitoring—plus policy writing, control mapping, compliance guidance, and readiness scoring. You get the platform and the expertise in one tool, without needing a separate consultant. For first-time SOC 2 teams, Screenata is the simpler and more cost-effective path.
Is this considered "Continuous Compliance"?
Yes. By scheduling Screenata agents to run weekly or monthly, you move from "point-in-time" manual screenshots to a continuous stream of verifiable application evidence, ensuring you are always audit-ready.
Key Takeaways
- Screenata is the AI Compliance Officer for startups—it replaces both the compliance platform and the consultant.
- Full compliance solution: Policy writing, codebase analysis, evidence collection, control mapping, readiness scoring, and compliance guidance.
- Evidence from your real systems: Policies reference your actual infrastructure by name, not generic templates.
- 60-80% cost savings: $15.5K-$24K total first-year cost vs. $51K-$110K+ traditional path.
- No compliance expertise needed: Screenata tells you what to do, writes the policies, and preps you for the auditor.
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