Send supplier questionnaires, chase them automatically, and get an AI review of every answer

Most supplier due diligence dies in an inbox. You email a spreadsheet, the vendor half-fills it, someone chases twice and gives up, and six months later the auditor asks for the assessment record. ISO-STANDARD.app runs the whole cycle — unique access codes, a save-and-resume vendor portal, automatic reminders and an AI review of what came back.

The problem with questionnaire-by-email

Supplier assessments fail for operational reasons, not technical ones. The spreadsheet goes to one person who leaves. Progress cannot be saved, so it gets done in one rushed sitting or not at all. Chasing is manual, so it stops. And when the answers finally arrive, nobody has time to read 90 responses closely enough to spot the ones that quietly say "no".

The result is a folder of half-completed forms that satisfies neither ISO 27001 A.5.19– A.5.23 nor your own risk appetite — and offers no defensible audit trail of who was asked what, and when.

How the assessment cycle runs

1. Pick or build the question set

Start from the built-in SIG-lite baseline — access control, encryption, BCDR, sub-processors, incident response and AI use — or build your own set per vendor tier.

2. Send a unique access code

The supplier gets an email with a code that opens their assessment and nothing else. No account creation, no shared logins, no attachment ping-pong.

3. They save progress and submit

Vendors answer over days, not minutes. Work is saved as they go and submitted when the evidence is gathered.

4. Reminders run without you

Automatic chase emails until submission, then an immediate notification to you when the assessment lands.

5. AI reviews the submission

Every submitted assessment gets a written review: weak answers, missing evidence and the follow-up questions worth asking.

6. The record becomes evidence

The assessment, review comments and reassessment date sit against the supplier in your vendor register, ready for the audit.

What changes on day one

1 code
Per supplier, per assessment
Save
Vendors resume where they left off
Auto
Reminders until submitted
AI
Review comments on every submission

What the AI review gives you

The review is written for the person who has to make the risk decision, not for a scoring engine. For each submission it highlights:

  • Answers that assert a control exists but offer no evidence to support it.
  • Vague or hedged responses that need a specific follow-up question.
  • Gaps against the control the question was written to test.
  • Practical improvements the supplier could make — useful to send back verbatim.
  • The themes worth escalating before you sign or renew.

You stay the decision maker. The review removes the reading burden that makes supplier assessments get rubber-stamped.

The artifacts buyers actually ask for

Every artifact below is generated inside the workspace, versioned, timestamped and shareable via a signed link — no last-minute PDF assembly, no "wait, which version did I send them?"

Supplier assessment record with question set, answers and submission date
AI review commentary and follow-up questions per submission
Reminder and chase history showing the assessment was actually pursued
Vendor register entry with tier, owner and reassessment date
Linked risks and corrective actions raised from a weak supplier answer
Sub-processor list published to your Trust Center

Who it's for

SME with 40 suppliers and no dedicated risk team

Pain: Due diligence happens when a customer asks about it, and only then.

With ISO-STANDARD.app: A repeatable cycle that runs on reminders instead of willpower.

Head of security preparing for certification

Pain: The auditor wants evidence that critical suppliers were assessed and reviewed.

With ISO-STANDARD.app: Every assessment, review and reassessment date is in one register.

Consultancy running client vendor programmes

Pain: Each client has a different questionnaire and no way to track responses.

With ISO-STANDARD.app: Reusable question sets per workspace, with the same portal and reminder flow.

Answers buyers, procurement and auditors want

How do suppliers access the questionnaire?+

They receive an email containing a unique, single-vendor access code. The link opens their assessment directly — no account to create, no password to remember, and no access to anything else in your workspace.

Can a vendor save a part-finished questionnaire?+

Yes. Answers are saved as they go, so a supplier can gather evidence internally, come back with the same code and submit when the assessment is complete.

What does the AI review actually do?+

When an assessment is submitted, it is reviewed automatically and returns plain-English comments: which answers are weak or evasive, which evidence is missing, and the specific follow-up questions worth sending back before you accept the risk.

Do I have to write the questionnaire myself?+

No. A SIG-lite style baseline covering access control, encryption, business continuity, sub-processors, incident response and AI use ships with the product. You can edit it or build your own question set per vendor tier.

How are suppliers chased?+

Reminder emails go out automatically on a schedule until the assessment is submitted, and you are notified the moment it lands — so nobody has to keep a chasing spreadsheet.

Which controls does this evidence?+

Supplier assessment records map to ISO 27001 A.5.19–A.5.23, SOC 2 CC9.2 and GDPR Article 28 obligations on processors and sub-processors.

Related

See the wider vendor risk workspace and supplier due diligence. Read the TPRM programme guide and vendor trust & third-party risk. Pair it with automated posture checks on your own systems.

Stop chasing suppliers by email

Send the questionnaire, let the platform chase, and read an AI review instead of 90 raw answers.

Prefer a conversation? Email hello@iso-standard.app — a practitioner responds within one business day.

AI-enabled — privacy-respecting

AI does the drafting. You keep the control — and the data.

How we handle data →
  • AI that assists — not replaces

    Assisted drafting for policies, risks, controls and buyer questionnaires. Every AI suggestion is reviewed and approved by you before it lands in the record.

  • Opt-in, workspace-scoped

    AI features run only when you invoke them, only against the workspace you're in. We never mine your data to answer someone else's prompt.

  • Your data stays yours

    Prompts routed via the AI Gateway to model providers whose API terms exclude your content from model training. Nothing is sold or shared for advertising.

  • Isolated by design

    Row-level security enforces workspace boundaries at the database. MFA, SSO, audit logs and least-privilege roles govern who sees what.

We never sell personal information, never share it for advertising, and never use your workspace content to train third-party models. Full sub-processor list and Acceptable Use Policy on the Trust page.

MM
Michael McCarroll
Founder · 25+ years
IT governance · Information security · AI
Why this platform exists

Enterprise-grade governance — built for the SMEs and consultants enterprise GRC forgets.

I've spent 25 years in corporate governance — aligning technology, controls and compliance with what the business is actually trying to do. Time and again, the same pattern: the organisations that win new clients aren't the ones with the biggest GRC budget. They're the ones who can demonstrate trust on demand. This platform is the tool I wanted for the SMEs and consultants I've worked with — institutional-grade governance without an institutional price tag, built on the way audits and buyer reviews actually happen.