In the realm of enterprise software, data has ascended to a position of paramount importance, a trend that has only been amplified by the advent of large language models. However, this data-centric landscape is also fraught with regulatory complexities, making compliance a critical yet daunting challenge for businesses.
Enter Codified, an innovative startup emerging from the Madrona Ventures incubator, poised to revolutionize data compliance. Founded by Yatharth Gupta, a seasoned data veteran, Codified aims to empower companies to harness the transformative power of data while ensuring compliance with regulatory mandates.
Gupta recognizes the pivotal role data plays in modern technology, yet he observes the struggle companies face in controlling access to this valuable asset. He explains, “Companies possess vast amounts of data, and they want people to utilize it. However, they need to ensure that the right individuals have access while safeguarding it from unauthorized parties. This challenge is incredibly difficult to address.”
With a clear mission, Codified embarks on a journey to unlock innovation within organizations by facilitating compliant access to data. Gupta highlights the shortcomings of existing software solutions, which often lack the flexibility to adapt to evolving use cases, leaving companies vulnerable to compliance breaches.
Codified’s groundbreaking approach involves translating policies into code, enabling seamless implementation across diverse applications and easy modification to accommodate new user categories or customer requirements. Gupta elaborates, “We empower users to create policies in natural language, using a declarative approach or a user-friendly interface. Once these policies are defined, we codify them into a format that can be implemented in various ways and easily modified.”
Furthermore, Codified empowers customers to establish conditions for data access, such as verifying whether an employee has undergone security training within the past year or confirming their involvement in a sensitive project. This granular approach enables companies to establish data access rules based on individual identities and their roles within specific applications or projects, eliminating the need for group-based rules that often fail to keep pace with employee movements and job changes.
Gupta’s extensive experience in the data domain, spanning 15 years at Microsoft and several years at Singlestor, has equipped him with a deep understanding of the challenges Codified seeks to address. With a team of five full-time employees and six contractors, he is diligently refining the product through collaborations with design partners. A release candidate is anticipated later this year.
Codified’s vision has attracted the support of notable investors, including Vine Ventures, Soma Capital, and Madrona Venture Labs, where the company was nurtured during its formative stages. This funding will fuel Codified’s mission to empower businesses with compliant data access, unlocking innovation and driving growth in the digital age.