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Vanta Questionnaire Automation Implementation Guide

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Written by Shannon DeLange
Updated this week

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