Accelerate your security questionnaires with AI-powered automation. This guide will walk you through how to set up, roll out, and operationalize Vanta’s QAuto so your team can reduce the time spent on questionnaires and ensure accuracy at scale.
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Key Terms Glossary
Term | Definition |
Answer Library | A centralized repository of previously approved answers that QAuto pulls from to auto-complete questions. |
Browser Extension | A Chrome extension that enables QAuto to work within customer questionnaire portals or platforms. |
SME (Subject Matter Expert) | An internal expert was consulted for specific, nuanced answers during the questionnaire process. |
Knowledge Base (KB) | A curated, structured collection of security answers, documents, and tags used by QAuto to answer future questionnaires. |
Metadata is applied to answers and documents to filter responses by criteria like product, deployment region, or risk level. | |
Pending Answer Queue | A staging area for new answers extracted during questionnaire completion, awaiting review and approval before they’re added to the KB. |
Starter Questionnaire | A practice questionnaire designed to teach users the QAuto workflow. |
First Pass Completion | The initial draft of a questionnaire is often generated by QAuto and reviewed by SMEs or team leads. |
Escalation | The process of sending unclear or incomplete questions to subject matter experts (SMEs) for further clarification. |
Final Review | The final QA step is to share the completed questionnaire with external stakeholders. |
Completion Tracking | Marking a questionnaire as “complete” within Vanta enables the collection of metrics, reporting, and tracking. |
Enablement Materials | Internal documentation or training assets are used to onboard teams and explain QAuto workflows. |
Automation Rollout Plan | A detailed deployment plan outlining ownership, review flows, and communication touchpoints for scaling QAuto across the org. |
30-60-90 Day Plan
First 30 Days – Setup & First Questionnaire
Goal: Build your initial knowledge base and complete one real questionnaire
Milestones:
~ 300 answers uploaded to the Answer Library
At least 1 resource added (policies, SOC 2, etc.)
Browser extension installed
First questionnaire completed using QAuto
First 60 Days – Plan for Broader Rollout
Goal: Develop your full rollout strategy
Milestones:
Clear process for:
Intake
Ownership & escalation
Final review
Completion & communication
Internal enablement materials created
Organizational rollout plan defined and approved
First 90 Days – Operationalize Questionnaire Automation
Goal: QAuto is being used consistently across all questionnaire workflows
Milestones:
QAuto used to complete all security questionnaires
Intake-to-completion process fully deployed
Answer Library updated with new, approved answers
Stage 1: Discovery
Goal: Understand current questionnaire processes and define success metrics.
Key Activities:
Define success:
Estimate monthly questionnaire volume
Record the baseline time spent per questionnaire
Understand ownership & workflow:
Map out the intake process (how questionnaires arrive)
Identify who owns each stage: first pass, SME escalation, final review
Pinpoint challenges:
Bottlenecks in current processes (e.g., delays in SME review)
Clarify completion and communication:
Who marks questionnaires as complete?
How are completed questionnaires communicated back to Sales or customers?
Plan for ongoing maintenance:
Establish expectations for keeping the Answer Library up to date
Identify who needs access to reports on usage and ROI
Stage 2: Setup (First 30 Days)
Goal: Build the foundation of your automated questionnaire program.
Key Activities:
Enable AI & Browser Extension:
Ensure QAuto AI is turned on in your Vanta instance
Install the browser extension across relevant team members
Import core assets:
Upload a minimum of 500 approved answers to the Answer Library
Add key documents (e.g., SOC 2, privacy policies)
Define KB structure:
Create tags for products, regions, and other important categories
Organize access and roles:
Ensure key roles (SMEs, owners, reviewers) are added and understand their part in the workflow
Stage 3: First Time to Value (First 30–60 Days)
Goal: Complete a real customer questionnaire end-to-end using QAuto.
Key Activities:
Practice with sample content:
Use the starter questionnaire to learn and demo the workflow
Complete a real questionnaire:
Use the browser extension to draft responses
Tag SMEs as needed for unclear questions
Approve or revise AI-suggested answers
Complete and return the questionnaire to the customer
Improve the Knowledge Base:
Add approved answers from the completed questionnaire into the Answer Library
Review pending answers and validate content
Stage 4: Deployment (First 60–90 Days)
Goal: Expand QAuto usage across your organization.
Key Activities:
Define your rollout plan:
Document the full questionnaire lifecycle: intake, assignment, SME escalation, approvals, completion, handoff
Create enablement resources:
Build internal how-to guides or training decks for Sales, Security, and SMEs
Train teams and communicate expectations:
Host onboarding sessions or office hours to walk through QAuto workflows
Deploy across use cases:
Apply QAuto to all incoming questionnaires (where applicable)
Track participation and adoption across teams
Stage 5: Operating (First 3–6 Months)
Goal: Establish consistent, org-wide adoption of QAuto.
Key Activities:
Use QAuto for all questionnaires:
Ensure intake volume aligns with discovery estimates
Track and monitor:
Regularly review usage: completion rates, open/pending tasks
Reinforce adoption:
Continue supporting SMEs and reviewers
Answer questions and collect internal feedback for refinement
Ongoing: Knowledge Base Management
Goal: Ensure your Answer Library evolves with your business.
Key Activities:
Assign KB owners:
Designate a point person or team responsible for maintaining the KB
Implement a review process:
Set a regular cadence (monthly or quarterly) for reviewing outdated answers
Review the Pending Answer Queue after every questionnaire to capture new content
Refine tagging system:
Ensure tags are consistent and comprehensive across entries
Ongoing: Reporting Success & Value
Goal: Track ROI and improve your process over time.
Key Activities:
Measure impact:
Compare the time spent before and after QAuto (using discovery as a baseline)
Count completed questionnaires and AI-answered questions
Report ROI to stakeholders:
Share reports with Security, GRC, SalesOps, or leadership
Identify improvement areas:
Evaluate the accuracy of AI answers
Address any repeated manual escalations
Use findings to evolve workflows or enhance the KB