To better support customers' due diligence and compliance needs, Pearson adopted an AI-enabled workflow from Apollo Secure to streamline and accelerate responses to customer compliance questionnaires. Its Trust Centre also offers a centralised, self-serve hub where customers can access current information about the company's security and privacy policies and processes.
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Education case study
Pearson Harnesses AI to Reduce Time to Respond to Customer Security Questionnaires and Build Customer Trust
Pearson's purpose is simple: to help people realise the life they imagine through learning. It is the world's lifelong learning company, serving customers in nearly 200 countries with digital content, assessments, qualifications and data.
Jamie Hawkins
Chief Privacy Officer at Pearson Education
Customer overview
A clearer path for Pearson Education
Measured impact
Apollo Secure estimates that AI automation delivers around a 90% direct saving, in addition to allowing highly skilled cybersecurity team members to focus on more critical work.
Automating questionnaire responses with Apollo Secure has provided value, and response times have been significantly improved. We’re expanding the use of the tool into other teams and across different topics which is a great outcome for both companies. The Trust Centre also gives us a central place to share relevant security and privacy information with our clients, without the overhead of managing shared files and potentially outdated links.
Jamie Hawkins
Chief Privacy Officer · Pearson Education
The customer journey
From challenge to measurable progress
How Pearson Education moved from a clear business need to practical security and compliance outcomes.
2 weeks to 45 minutes
Response time
Reduced the time needed to respond to customer security questionnaires.
Around 90%
Initial response rate
AI-generated answers from a central knowledge base before manual review.
Hundreds
Questionnaires completed
Security questionnaires completed through Apollo Secure.
01
The Challenge
Many organisations ask service providers and partners to complete questionnaires to confirm that privacy, security and compliance practices align effectively with their own standards and regulatory obligations.
As part of its commitment to transparency and trust, Pearson regularly completes security questionnaires to help customers understand how it protects data and complies with regulations. Pearson previously responded to these questionnaires manually, which led to delays and impacted customer response times.
02
The Solution
Apollo Secure's security questionnaire automation product enabled Pearson to streamline the process of responding to security questionnaires by leveraging AI.
The existing security data was assembled and refined in a central knowledge base so security questionnaires can be answered using AI within one minute with around a 90% initial response rate, followed by a manual review to fill any gaps. The Trust Centre also allows clients and prospects to review relevant security information such as policies, certifications and reports to quickly confirm that Pearson has the right security measures in place before engaging on a project.
03
The Results
Pearson has completed hundreds of questionnaires using the Apollo Secure platform, reducing response times from two weeks down to 45 minutes with an average initial response rate of around 90%.
The Trust Centre provides a central repository of the company's security posture and reduces the need to manually handle security documentation.
04
Lessons Learned
AI can deliver tremendous value when implemented correctly with the right systems and controls in place.
Ready to see similar results?
Join Pearson Education and other organisations using Apollo Secure to make security and compliance work more practical.