Hey Daan! Can you tell us about Tellent and your role there?

My name is Daan Goumans, and I’m the Information Security Officer and Team Lead IT at Tellent. I’ve been with the company for about 3.5 years. My main focus is risk management and the strategic side of security controls, while my team manages the day-to-day operations of our core business tools like mail, internal comms, and user endpoints. 

Our engineering team is around 90-100 people, including product managers. Together, we build and maintain Tellent’s HR platform, which combines recruiting (ATS), core HR (HRIS), and performance & growth tools into one system. What sets us apart is the flexibility to start with what you need and grow over time, along with over 200 integrations and extensive workflow customization.

“Security and compliance are core pillars in our product strategy. Our customers rely on us to protect sensitive hiring and employee data.”

How did security and compliance shape your product strategy?

Handling sensitive data means we need to meet strict security and compliance standards. We’re audited regularly for ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, and run penetration tests as part of our strategy. We also want our customers to meet their own requirements, so we’ve built in features like role-based access control, configurable data retention, and automated workflows to support them.

What led you to start evaluating Aikido?

There wasn’t one big incident that led us to evaluate Aikido. We’ve always tried to be proactive about improving security. A partner in the security space told us they had consolidated solutions into Aikido and were really happy with the results. We looked into it ourselves and realized it could help us gain better oversight across all assets in one place. 

Before Aikido, our tools either lacked coverage for specific programming languages (we were using Dependabot) or only solved part of the problem. Some created noise instead of actionable advice, while others didn’t give a good return on investment.

“We needed something that would give us full coverage, less noise, and more actionable insights in one place.”

What challenges were you facing at the time?

During our merger, we had to integrate new codebases, cloud environments, and third-party integrations. Our existing tools couldn’t keep up with the pace or the scope. On top of that, as our customer base grew, so did the compliance requirements. To prove we were in control, we implemented an ISO 27001-certified information security management system. Aikido made it easier to demonstrate compliance to senior leadership, auditors, customers, and prospects because it covered all the technical aspects from one platform.

What stood out about Aikido during the evaluation?

Three things stood out during the evaluation: broad coverage across clouds, programming languages, and registries in a single interface; pre-processed vulnerabilities so we could focus on the critical findings with actionable advice rather than noise; and reporting and oversight features that made it easy to demonstrate value to C-level leadership.

“The Trends over Time reports make it easy to show progress to senior leadership and highlight the work done by engineering.”

How was the onboarding process?

We went from signing to having everything in place in about a month. Our CTO led the implementation, so it required minimal operational effort from the rest of the team. 

The Aikido team was always quick to respond, and for any decisions that required weighing pros and cons, they clearly explained our options. We mostly managed using the available documentation, and where needed, support was just a Slack message away.

How has Aikido integrated into your workflows?

Very smoothly. We didn’t need any technical changes to our product. It integrates with ClickUp, so new high- and critical-severity issues automatically appear on our security project backlog board. Our technical director can then assign them to the right teams, which keeps priorities clear and reduces noise for developers. 

“With Slack and ClickUp integrations, we went from weekly alert digests to real-time alerts.”

We also use Aikido’s reports in our monthly security meetings with senior and C-level leadership. Being able to track new versus resolved issues month over month helps us steer strategy and allocate resources where needed.

What tangible outcomes have you seen since adopting Aikido?

Aikido completely eliminated prep time for audits. Now, during any audit, we simply open the platform and show how integrations are configured, giving instant assurance we’re in control. Automated ticketing hasn’t reduced the total time spent on security issues, but it has transformed how time is used. With better filtering and prioritization, developers focus only on what matters most, and leadership gets real-time visibility instead of waiting for manual reports.

“Before Aikido, collecting all the security information was tedious. Now, oversight, reporting, and strategic decision-making are much simpler.”

How would you sum up Aikido’s impact on Tellent?

Aikido helped us consolidate our security scanners, improve collaboration with leadership, and gain clearer oversight across all systems. It gave us the confidence to experiment and move faster, knowing we have an additional layer of security keeping watch.

“Aikido allowed us to be proactive rather than reactive, with one place for oversight, reporting, and action.”