Clay, a leading go-to-market (GTM) platform, empowers growth teams to unlock high-quality data and run hyper-personalised outreach at scale. With 100+ integrated data sources and AI-powered workflows, the company enables marketing and sales teams to move faster and smarter. Backed by top investors and valued at over $3 billion, Clay is a major player in go-to‐market automation.

In early 2024, the company was selling to a prospect who required SOC 2 compliance to seal the deal. Clay had begun implementing Vanta to help manage its security and they needed an auditor fast to attest to their security posture. An enterprise deal was on the line and Clay required an audit partner who could quickly understand their business, their key risks, and help guide them through the readiness phase.

Vanta knew the perfect fit. They introduced Clay to Advantage Partners, a trusted partner who could move at the speed that Clay required. They needed someone who could translate the compliance requirements and not waste time and resources to get to the audit faster.

Clay knew that investors and partners demanded robust security, so from its inception, security and compliance were a high priority. They also were committed to building a strong foundation to reach their best fit customer – and give them the tools they need to help grow their businesses. Clay saw a kindred spirit in Advantage Partners, who is committed to helping its clients build trust and scale their businesses so they can reach their goals in a timely manner.

“After a single call with Advantage Partners, we were able to sign contracts and kick off the audit engagement,” said Everett Berry, Head of GTM Engineering at Clay.

“It took just three days from contract signature to Audit Kickoff for the Type 1. Mutual collaboration allowed us to streamline the scoping and other administrative items as we swiftly onboarded the Clay team,” said Andrew Gulrajani, Advantage Partners co-founder.

Given its experience delivering hundreds of frictionless audits, Advantage Partners quickly prioritized a review of Clay’s SOC 2 requirements. They proactively shifted resources to give full attention to the project, including pulling in multiple team members, to drive Clay swiftly through the reporting & attestation issuance phase. Clay, for its part, had evidence readily available to review and was extremely attentive to Advantage Partners’ questions, follow ups and other required items to close out the engagement.

Teamwork enabled Advantage Partners to deliver Clay’s three SOC 2 reports in record time – just 1.5 weeks after the audit window closed. Clay’s attention to the pre-audit readiness made certain that all of the supporting documentation and audit artifacts were in place for Advantage Partners to fast-track the audit. Clay also was diligent in their monitoring of Vanta throughout the observation periods, further demonstrating the value of continuous compliance for audit engagements.

Clay’s hard work strengthening and documenting their security process and protocols early on has allowed them to scale their program and easily achieve their annual SOC 2 renewal. The ongoing relationship they’ve established with Advantage Partners has translated into increased ease and efficiency with each renewal cycle. The value of the relationship has been made clear as Clay recommends Advantage Partners to other businesses seeking their SOC 2 attestation. From a big picture perspective, Clay’s focus on maintaining their security profile has helped their compliance program scale in conjunction with their organizational growth.

“Working with Advantage Partners was a game-changer for Clay,” said Everett. They understood that SOC 2 wasn’t just a checkbox—it was the key to unlocking enterprise relationships. Their ability to move quickly without compromising quality gave us the confidence to scale our security program as fast as our business.”