How Aikido Security Cut Commission Processing from 3 Days to 3 Hours with Driven
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Aikido Security, a fast-growing cybersecurity platform out of Belgium, was drowning in manual commission work every quarter. After adopting Driven, their CRO went from 3 days of spreadsheet work to 3 hours of review — while giving every rep real-time earnings visibility across 6 global regions.
About Aikido Security
Aikido is a fast-growing cybersecurity platform out of Belgium, securing code for thousands of companies worldwide. Their CRO, Thijs Janse, manages a team of 120+ sales professionals across 6 regions: EU, UK, US, APAC, and the Middle East — with plans to double the team again this year.
Growing that fast means paying commissions doesn't stay simple for long.
The Breaking Point
Every quarter, Aikido's CRO disappeared for 3 days. Not into deals — into spreadsheets.
Pulling deal data from HubSpot. Cross-referencing with billing. Manually calculating every rep's payout across multiple regions, each with different rates, currencies, and accelerator logic. Then fielding a week of Slack messages from reps asking why their number looked off.
Meanwhile, every rep was building their own shadow spreadsheet. Managers were doing their own math to check if their team target was right. Finance was waiting on final numbers before they could even start the payout process.
The combined time cost across the org? Easily a full week per quarter, burned on admin — not on selling. And Aikido was about to double the team. The spreadsheet wasn't going to survive that.
Why Driven
Aikido didn't want another tool that needed a 3-month implementation, a dedicated admin, and a consultant to set up formulas. They wanted a simple, reliable solution that gets the job done.
For Thijs, correctness came first, speed second. Commissions had to be right, every time, without manual cross-checking. Driven delivered both: the agentic comp builder set up all plans in hours, and the Driven Agent answers any question new joiners might have about their comp on the spot.
The HubSpot connection was instant. No CSV exports, no manual data mapping — deal data and revenue streams flowing in automatically, all plans across every region and role configured and validated within a few days.
Support That Feels Like an Extra Team Member
"It felt like Driven was part of the Aikido team during onboarding. Shared Slack channel, instant replies."
That's not a one-time onboarding experience — it's how the relationship works every day. Aikido has a shared Slack channel with the Driven team. When a rep spots something off, they ask. When a manager needs a target adjusted, it happens the same day.
No ticket queue. No 3-5 business day response times. No "we'll escalate this to engineering." Just a direct line to the people who built the system. Not a vendor. An extension of the team.
What Changed
"We went from spending 3 days on commission calculations to getting it done in 3 hours. Driven gave our reps real-time visibility into their earnings, which was a game-changer for our team."
— Thijs Janse, CRO, Aikido Security
- For the CRO: Those 3 days turned into 3 hours. One session to review and approve all payouts. Done.
- For Finance: No more being the bottleneck. Payouts are calculated automatically and ready for review. No spreadsheet archaeology, no manual formulas to audit.
- For Managers: Team targets update automatically as reps ramp in. No more guessing, no more asking "what's my number this quarter?"
- For Reps: Log in, see every deal, see the exact rate applied, see the payout. No shadow spreadsheets. No waiting until end of quarter to find out what you earned.
- For New Joiners: One click and they're in the system. Driven explains their plan, their targets, their ramp. Instantly ready to sell.
Scaling Without the Overhead
Aikido is planning to double their sales team in the coming year. New regions. New plan types. New reps every quarter with individual ramp schedules.
Before Driven, every new hire meant more rows in the spreadsheet, more edge cases to handle manually, more room for error. Now, adding a new rep takes minutes. Their plan, target, and ramp are configured once — and everything calculates from there. Doubling the team doesn't mean doubling the admin.
The Numbers
3 days → 3 hours — CRO commission processing time per quarter
1 week from HubSpot connection to live with 120 reps
0 individual spreadsheets created by reps after onboarding
120+ reps across 6 regions, all on automated plans
New rep onboarding: instant
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Sales Compensation Structure: Types, Examples, & How to Choose the Right Model
A sales compensation structure is the framework that determines how sales representatives are paid. It combines fixed compensation, such as base salary, with variable compensation tied to performance, including commissions, bonuses, incentives, or profit-sharing arrangements.
The purpose of a compensation structure is not simply to pay employees. It is designed to:
- Motivate sales performance
- Attract and retain top talent
- Align sales activities with company objectives
- Reward desired outcomes
- Maintain predictable compensation costs
An effective compensation plan creates a clear connection between performance and earnings while remaining simple enough for employees to understand.
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Sales Compensation Statistics Every RevOps Leader Should Know
Revenue Operations sits at the intersection of sales, finance, and strategy. Compensation is one of the primary mechanisms that drives, or misaligns, that engine. When compensation data is absent, RevOps teams operate reactively: quotas get set on gut feel, disputes consume operational bandwidth, and retention problems get blamed on culture when the real root is pay dissatisfaction.
When compensation data is used proactively, the picture changes entirely. RevOps teams can forecast payout cost against projected performance, spot quota risk before it materialises, and build transparency into the system before disputes arise. The statistics below aren't just benchmarks; they're diagnostic tools for identifying exactly where your compensation strategy has gaps.
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How to Build a Sales Compensation Plan
A sales compensation plan is a structured framework that defines how sales employees are rewarded based on their performance. At its core, it answers one question: what do we pay people for, and how much?
A typical plan includes:
- Base salary: the guaranteed fixed income
- Commission structure: variable pay tied to performance
- Bonuses: one-time or periodic rewards for hitting specific targets
- Quotas: the performance thresholds that trigger commissions
- KPIs and metrics: the behaviors and outcomes being measured
- Accelerators: higher commission rates for overperformance
A well-designed plan drives profitable growth. A poorly designed one drives the wrong behaviours, or drives your best reps out the door.
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