February 22, 2026
Seven days ago, I published an article introducing "The Deterministic SOC2 API." I expected silence. What I got was something else.
Not emails. Not customers. Not yet.
But something more valuable: Google ranked it #1.
Not for some obscure keyword. For the category I just named.
Today I want to share what happened next—and what building this thing has taught me about compliance, automation, and the gap no one else saw.
Lesson 1: The Market Doesn't Move as Fast as Google
When you search "deterministic SOC2 API" right now, my article is the first result. That means Google has decided: this is the most authoritative, relevant, trustworthy answer to that query.
But Google moves faster than people.
The people who need what I built haven't searched for it yet. They're still living with the problem, not knowing a solution exists. They'll search eventually. When they do, they'll find me.
That's not waiting. That's being early.
Lesson 2: Determinism Is the Differentiator No One Talks About
Every compliance platform sells "automation." Vanta automates evidence collection. Drata automates policy tracking. SecureFrame automates control mapping.
But none of them automate decision logs.
When an automated security control makes a decision—blocks access, approves a change, triggers an alert—where is the record of why? Which SOC2 controls were satisfied? Can you prove the same input would produce the same output next month?
Most companies can't. And auditors know it.
Determinism solves this. Identical inputs always produce identical outputs. No randomness. No black box. Every decision becomes auditable.
That's not a feature. That's a missing layer.
Lesson 3: Building for Auditors Changes How You Think
I didn't start with auditors in mind. I started with a technical problem: how do you make automated decisions reproducible?
But every conversation I've had (and every article I've read) keeps circling back to the same point: auditors don't trust automation.
Not because they're difficult. Because they can't verify it.
A deterministic decision log gives them something to verify. They can take last month's decision, run the same inputs today, and get the same output. That's not trust. That's proof.
Lesson 4: The SOC2 Controls That Actually Need This
While building, I mapped security signals to SOC2 control families. What emerged was a pattern:
Signals about access, login, or privilege map to CC6.1 (Logical Access Security)
Signals about change, modify, or update map to CC7.1 (Change Management)
Signals about monitor, log, or audit map to CC7.2 (System Monitoring)
Signals about vendor, risk, or third-party map to CC12.1 (Risk Assessment)
These aren't arbitrary. They're the controls where decisions actually happen—where a human (or automated system) must choose to approve, deny, or investigate.
Every one of those decisions should leave a trace. None of them do—until now.
Lesson 5: The First Customer Will Come from Somewhere Unexpected
I don't know who it will be. Maybe a compliance officer at a fintech company. Maybe a SOC2 auditor who needs to validate client automation. Maybe a developer at Vanta who realizes this is the missing piece.
What I do know: they'll find me before I find them.
That's the shift. I'm not chasing. I'm building something findable.
What's Next
The API is live. Free tier: 100 decisions/month, no email required.
If you're a compliance professional, security engineer, or auditor: try it. Break it. Tell me what's missing.
If you're a founder building in this space: reach out. I'm not competing with you. I'm building the layer you didn't know you needed.
And if you're just discovering this category for the first time: welcome. You're early.
Founder & CEO, Decision Security Layer
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