One workflow. Any framework. It runs itself.
Pick your frameworks. Drop in what you already have — policies, playbooks, a SOC 2 report, nothing at all. Cleo classifies your evidence, proposes answers, and turns every gap into a Planner card. Whether you are starting from zero or proving what you already have, it is the same workflow.
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Where you start doesn't change the workflow
Starting from zero
You stare at a blank framework — SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST CSF — with no idea where to begin. Spreadsheets and scattered security docs, but no structure. The workflow walks you through every control with context and suggested answers.
Documented, but unproven
You have policies, incident response playbooks, access controls — all written down — and no idea what they prove. Drop them in and the workflow tells you which controls they cover, which are partial, and which are gaps.
From frameworks to a prioritized plan
Pick your frameworks
SOC 2, NIST CSF 2.0, ISO 27001:2022, CMMC 2.0, HIPAA, CIS Controls v8 — one or several. The workflow covers every control they share only once.
Drop in what you have
Policies, procedures, certificates, prior audit reports, .docx / .pptx / .xlsx files. Optional — a team with nothing simply starts answering.
Cleo classifies and proposes
Each document is identified and matched to the evidence types and controls it satisfies; answers are proposed with confidence levels. A confirmation summary shows exactly what will change before it does.
Gaps become Planner cards
Unanswered questions and unmet controls become tasks pre-linked to their control, with owners and due dates. Framework Health updates as you go.
What makes it a workflow, not a checklist
Cleo guidance on every control
What the control requires, why it matters, which questions to answer, what evidence to attach — with suggested answers drawn from your documents, not generic best practice.
Evidence auto-classification
Uploaded documents are cataloged, typed and linked to the controls they satisfy; the same document is never filed twice under one evidence type in a period. Full version history.
Dynamic task generation
Every gap the workflow finds becomes a Planner card pre-linked to its control. No manual tracking of which task closes which gap.
Multi-framework in one pass
Answer controls for SOC 2 and the answers are credited to NIST CSF, ISO 27001 and CIS Controls through cross-framework mapping.
Confirmation before commit
Completing a workflow shows which answers will change and which evidence records will be created, each with a confidence level. Nothing changes until you approve.
Framework Health as you work
A live view — "SOC 2: 34% complete, NIST: 28%, overdue tasks: 3" — so progress is visible in real time.
Three teams, one workflow
SaaS company heading to SOC 2
Day 1: create Environment "SOC 2 Certification", select SOC 2 Type II, upload existing access-control, incident-response and change-management policies. Cleo proposes answers for the questions they already cover; the rest are answered with guidance; gaps become tasks. Week 6: 87% complete, audit scheduled.
Healthcare startup on HIPAA
Create Environment "Patient Portal (HIPAA)", upload the AWS BAA, encryption policies, access-control docs and the IR playbook. Cleo maps them: encryption policy covers §164.312(a)(2) fully; access controls cover part of §164.308(a)(3), audit logging needs work. Posture is visible the same day.
MSP onboarding several clients
Per client, upload existing security documents and select their frameworks — Client A: SOC 2 + NIST; Client B: PCI + ISO 27001. The portfolio dashboard shows cross-client readiness and the MSP prioritizes by audit timeline.
Not a checklist
It generates the path
Competitors give you a list of 150 controls to click through. RealCISO generates a guided, prioritized workflow from your frameworks and your documents.
It closes the loop
Control → gap → task → closure → proof. Competitors leave you at "gap identified".
It never re-asks
SOC 2 + NIST + ISO in one environment. Answer once, credit everywhere.
Workflows FAQ
Do I have to choose between a framework-based and an evidence-based workflow?
Not any more. Since June 2026 every workflow does both: you pick the frameworks, optionally drop in the documents you already have, and Cleo classifies the evidence, maps it to controls and proposes answers for the questions it covers. Teams starting from zero and teams with a documented program run the same workflow.
What happens to the documents I upload?
Cleo reads each one, identifies what it is, recommends the evidence types it satisfies and proposes answers to the control questions it covers, each with a confidence level. Before anything changes you see a confirmation summary of exactly which answers will change and which evidence records will be created.
How do gaps turn into work?
Questions you can't answer, and controls the workflow finds unmet, become Planner cards pre-linked to the control — owner, due date, and a straight line from control to gap to task to closure to proof.
Can one workflow cover several frameworks?
Yes. Select SOC 2, NIST CSF and ISO 27001 together and answer each shared control once; cross-framework mapping credits the answer everywhere it applies, and Framework Health shows each standard's progress separately.
Does the workflow ever change my assessment without me?
No. Every proposed answer and evidence link is reviewed and confirmed by you. Automated tests from integrations are also informational — they never change a control's status.
Go deeper on any capability
The engine behind the workflow, and where its output goes.
Start where you are — not where you wish you were
Pick a framework, drop in what you have, and let the workflow do the first pass.
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