Many companies fall into the trap of innovation without realizing that not passing a data security audit will stall a deal right in its tracks.
April 22, 2026, by Christopher Kelly, Director of Growth, Ebryx, LLC
Passing a data security audit has become a staple at many companies to win an enterprise deal for a software product. Many companies are very concerned with potential breaches that can expose risk to their organization when using a third-party software tool. A data security audit is a process that is conducted by the IT Department at many companies to ensure data security and data privacy. Although, following certain compliances like SOC 2 or ISO can help you pass one of these audits, the protocol can vary from different companies in different jurisdictions which means passing these audits is a revenue driver since they can make or break closing a deal.
Let’s take, for example, my trip to a learning and development conference called DevLearn in 2025. When I walked through the halls, I came across many tech companies that have enabled AI features for developing learning content. A rapid authoring tool is a software platform that will help a learning and development team in creating content and creating digital interactives. Using an AI powered authoring tool requires training data based on the company’s proprietary information which must be handled with extreme precautions. Many of them promised that they could reduce the amount of time to do certain tasks in minutes that used to take hours or days when using these tools.
If you think companies were lining up to meet with these vendors to buy their products, you would be mistaken. Most of the attendees I spoke with felt as though the tools were way ahead of where their organizations were. Many of these organizations are just getting used to using basic learning management systems and converting legacy print products into a digital format. Most of their current processes are way behind where these tools are today.
The most interesting story is when I was leaving the Expo Hall. One of the attendees who worked for a large enterprise company told me that she went through the process with 8 different rapid authoring tools to get cleared to purchase and went through a data security audit. Of those 8 tools, only 1 passed. This meant 7 companies went through an entire buying process and were unable to move forward based on product decisions they made about data security.
The key takeaway for most companies is that innovation can come at a cost if security is not at the forefront. Companies need to think about these issues from the very first day they start writing code. Going back and making these fixes or ignoring them all together puts a company at peril for an actual cybersecurity attack. This is especially true in the days of AI that we live in today where innovation is great yet lacks many security protocols. The key to success is making sure your innovation can pass security standards since the failure to do so will prevent closed deals. In doing so, you can be the one company who passes and wins the deal.
Christopher Kelly has been in edtech for 30 years in sales positions and has seen the entire transformation from print digital, and now AI in his lifetime. These changes were challenging for the edtech industry and played a major role in these transformations since he realized the status quo no longer worked.
Chris latest passion is how to keep humanity alive in this world that is dominated by technology. Although Chris is a technologist, he is keenly aware of the dangers technology presents in terms of engaging in uniquely human behaviors. He talks and publishes often on this topic and the importance of community in person engagement in a world dominated by technology.