Technical how-to

How to do security review with AI.

Security review is text and pattern heavy — exactly the work AI is good at. But security stakes are high; AI errors here have meaningful consequences. The right approach uses AI for first pass and humans for final judgment. Here is the workflow.

Where AI lands in security review

The 4 high-value workflows

1. Code security review (first pass). AI scans for common vulnerability patterns, security anti-patterns. Senior engineer verifies findings.

2. Vendor security questionnaire responses. SOC2/ISO/HIPAA questionnaires from prospects. AI drafts from policy documents.

3. Security policy drafting. Acceptable use policies, incident response runbooks, access management policies.

4. Incident writeups and post-mortems. Faster, more structured, easier to share with stakeholders.

Where AI must NOT decide

Stay human

Whether a vulnerability is critical vs informational. Judgment.

Whether to disclose a security issue publicly. Strategic decision.

Access revocation decisions. Operational + judgment.

Final security audit responses. CISO/security owner signs off.

The vendor questionnaire prompt

Use this

I am responding to a security questionnaire from [PROSPECT/CUSTOMER].

Our current security posture: [PASTE FROM POLICY DOCS]
Our certifications: [SOC2 / ISO / etc]
Our subprocessors: [LIST]
Questionnaire: [PASTE]

For each question:
1. Honest answer based on our actual posture
2. Source document/policy that supports the answer
3. Whether the answer requires verification before sending (anything material)
4. Flag if our answer would be a "no" (transparency is better than evasion)

Do not embellish. Do not claim controls we do not have. Flag any question where the honest answer is incomplete or absent.
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