You know what's not sexy? Compliance software.
You know what companies absolutely have to buy? Compliance software.
This creates one of the best sales environments you'll ever encounter: high demand, genuine urgency, and buyers who need your solution whether they find it exciting or not. While your mates are grinding through endless discovery calls trying to create needs that don't exist, you're talking to prospects who already know they have a problem.
What Is Compliance (And Why Does Every Company Stress About It)?
Compliance is simply proving you follow the rules. The rules could be laws (like GDPR for data protection), industry standards (like SOC 2 for security), or regulatory requirements (like anti-money laundering rules for banks).
The problem? Proving compliance traditionally meant armies of compliance officers manually checking processes, mountains of spreadsheets, constant audit anxiety, and weeks of frantic preparation before audits.
When a company fails compliance, the consequences are brutal:
- Regulatory fines ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions (WhatsApp: €225 million for GDPR violations)
- Lost business (can't sell to enterprise customers without SOC 2)
- Reputation damage that tanks customer trust
- Personal liability for executives in regulated industries
So every CFO, CRO, CISO, and General Counsel is constantly worried about compliance.
Where Technology Comes In
For decades, compliance was handled manually. Consultants would review your processes annually, charge £50K-£200K, point out gaps, and leave. You'd scramble to fix things before the audit. Then hope nothing changed until next year.
This model is breaking down because:
- Regulations change constantly (DORA hits EU financial firms in January 2026)
- Companies need multiple frameworks simultaneously (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR)
- Remote work spans multiple jurisdictions with different employment laws
- Enterprise customers demand proof before buying (no SOC 2 = no enterprise deals)
Compliance technology automates what used to be manual: continuous monitoring instead of annual audits, automated evidence collection instead of screenshots, real-time visibility into what's passing or failing, and AI that flags gaps before they become violations.
The ROI is simple: a platform costs £50K-£150K annually. It replaces 2-3 compliance officers at £60K-£80K each, cuts audit prep time by 50-90%, and reduces the risk of million-pound fines.
Real Companies Actively Hiring Right Now
Vanta and Drata automate security and compliance certification (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR) for cloud-based companies. Both integrate with hundreds of tools, run automated tests continuously, and cut compliance achievement time from months to weeks. You're helping tech startups and SaaS companies get certifications they need to close enterprise deals, which means your product directly impacts their revenue. Vanta emphasizes breadth with 375+ integrations, while Drata focuses on adaptive automation with no-code custom tests. Both report customers saving 50+ hours monthly on manual compliance tasks.
Surecloud serves larger enterprises with a full GRC platform covering risk management, compliance tracking, audit management, and privacy controls all in one place. Longer sales cycles, bigger deals, and senior stakeholders (CISOs, compliance directors, risk managers). They claim 60% reduction in compliance effort for customers achieving SOC 2 or ISO 27001.
5mins.ai delivers compliance training through AI-powered microlearning in TikTok-style videos. Companies get 95%+ completion rates versus 30-40% for traditional training, cutting training time from 24 hours quarterly to 4 hours while improving retention. When regulators cite training failures in fines (like Starling Bank's £29 million penalty), audit-ready documentation proving staff are trained becomes essential.
Zango uses AI to continuously monitor regulatory changes for financial services, perform automated gap analysis, and map requirements to internal policies. One customer reduced a 48-hour regulatory workflow to under 4 hours. Used by tier-one banks like Novobanco and neobanks like Monzo. You're selling to an industry where penalties reach hundreds of millions.
Borderless AI handles international employment compliance across 170+ countries through their Employer of Record platform. Their AI generates compliant employment contracts in under a minute, processes global payroll in 5 days with no pre-funding, and removes massive legal risk from hiring internationally.
Why This Is Brilliant Territory for Sales
Real urgency. Companies must achieve SOC 2 to close their biggest customer, or DORA requirements hit in January. You're not manufacturing pressure.
Budget authority. Compliance failures destroy companies, so spending sits with senior leadership who can make decisions.
Recurring revenue. Annual subscriptions with strong renewals. Your SOC 2 customer becomes your ISO 27001 customer becomes your HIPAA customer. Many companies offer residual commission on renewals.
Recession resistance. Regulatory requirements don't pause during downturns. Your pipeline stays healthy.
Less competition from "naturals." Fewer charismatic sellers gravitate toward boring categories. If you win through preparation and expertise rather than personality, you'll stand out.
The Money
UK roles: £80K-£200K OTE within 2-3 years. Enterprise roles: £250K+.US roles: 30-40% higher.
The difference: recurring revenue and expansion create compounding income. You're not starting from zero every quarter.
The Skills That Transfer
Complex B2B SaaS - Selling to IT, security, or finance teams prepares you for technical buyers and multi-stakeholder deals.
Long sales cycles - 3-9 month enterprise cycles are standard. Patience required.
Consultative selling - You're mapping business problems to solutions across legal, IT, and finance.
What you learn fast: regulatory frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, DORA), audit processes, how compliance impacts business development, and the actual cost of violations.
How to Break In
Do your research. Read actual GDPR or SOC 2 requirements, not just summaries. This separates you immediately.
Highlight transferable skills. IT/finance/legal sales experience matters more than compliance expertise.
Be clear on your target. Startups needing first certifications? Enterprise managing multiple frameworks? Financial services? Each requires different approaches.
Your interview story: "I'm interested in compliance tech because I want to sell in a category with real urgency, quantifiable ROI, and customers who actually need what I'm selling. I'd rather become an expert in a complex domain than constantly manufacture demand in a crowded market."
What Success Looks Like
First six months: serious learning curve. You'll study regulations, understand audit processes, and figure out procurement in risk-averse organizations.
Your deals take 3-9 months. More stakeholders, more technical validation, more change management. Patience is mandatory.
But once ramped, the fundamentals work for you. Genuine customer need, competition is often spreadsheets or legacy consultants, strong renewals because switching costs are high.
The Bottom Line
Compliance tech won't make you sound exciting at dinner parties. Your family still won't understand what you do.
What you get: real demand, genuine urgency, expanding budgets, and solving complex problems for sophisticated buyers. You'll build expertise that compounds over time. You'll develop relationships with senior leaders who appreciate what you do. And you'll earn well.
In sales, the secret isn't finding the most glamorous product. It's finding where your skills match market dynamics to create sustainable success.
Vanta, Drata, Surecloud, 5mins.ai, Zango, and Borderless AI are all actively building sales teams. They need people who can navigate complexity, build credibility with technical buyers, and close deals that actually matter.
If you can outwork your competition, learn faster, and execute consistently in a category with real fundamentals, you'll do exceptionally well here.
Just don't expect anyone outside sales to understand why you're excited about it. Your bank account will understand.