# Financial Institute Case Study # From First Security Hire to Fortune 500-Level SOC Operations How a first-time manager and his team of two built security operations that match teams 10x their size [Spotlighting SOC Stars](#results-from-the-field) ![](https://radiantsecurity.ai/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-15-at-11.05.32.png) ### **Challenges** First security hire building from zero Rapid company growth requires scaled detection Two security hires covering 10k+ monthly alerts Onboarding new and unknown types of alerts [block link](#challenges) ### ****Solution**** AI SOC platform Full automation of investigation & response [block link](#solution) ### ****Results**** Only 40 monthly alerts escalated 100% of alerts covered, 99% of noise reduced Dozens of monthly analyst hours saved MTTD decreased to minutes [block link](#results) Disclaimer: Names and identifying details have been replaced with pseudonyms while case study approval is in progress. ## **Building From Zero: Scaling Security With Minimal Resources** James Callahan walked into Vantage Finance as the first security hire at a rapidly growing fintech company with plans to scale detection. There was no security team in place, and most of the budget was already committed to detection tools. Most security leaders facing this situation would hire incrementally, adding analysts as alert volume and workload demanded. James saw it differently. He planned to staff with just two analysts and redirect the salary budget toward software that could absorb the workload instead. When he met with Vantage Finance’s leadership, James was direct and confident about his vision. He needed only two security hires. For the cost of two additional salaries, they could instead invest in a platform that would eliminate noise and turn alert volume into manageable work. Leadership approved the plan, and it was now up to him to clear up the chaos and deliver. > “*Having worked in companies that scaled their detection programs in the past, I knew that this route would be very chaotic, and the only ones to truly manage it seamlessly are those that invest in their SOC beforehand*.” > > > > ****James Callahan**** > Vantage Finance ## ******James Callahan****** - Senior Security Manager - Veteran SOC builder - Team empowerment through AI strategy ![](https://radiantsecurity.ai/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-14-2026-01_52_18-PM-1.png) ![](https://radiantsecurity.ai/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-14-2026-02_11_02-PM-1.png) USA 3500 employees Financing Services Challenges ## **Looking bigger than you are: operating a 10k alert SOC with two new hires and one SOC platform** James joined Vantage Finance with a mandate: expand the security surface by onboarding new security tools that would expose threats on new fronts. The mission was clear, but the execution posed a mathematical problem. They anticipated 10,000 monthly alerts from the latest tools, and James had hired two team members so far. What could he do to keep his team from drowning? Get a SOAR platform? Outsource? James analysed the ROI of these investments in terms of time savings and concluded they would not be sufficient. To engineer his way out of this problem from a new angle, James reached out to Radiant Security, an agentic SOC AI platform built to cut through the noise and empower lean SOC teams to focus only on real threats.. > “We wanted to have human time be as little as possible. We were looking for solutions that we could throw alerts at, and it could do an auto triage, putting only real threats in front of our resources to not waste their time.” > > > > ********James Callahan******** > Vantage Finance ### Goals & limitations at a glance **Goals** - Build enterprise-grade security from day one - Accelerate investigation speed without hiring **Limitations** - Budget - Workforce - Time Solution ## **The tipping point** That’s when James partnered with Radiant. Radiant made Vantage Finance look like 20 people were working in their SOC, ensuring every incoming alert was triaged and investigated with a level of understanding, speed, and precision only the most experienced analyst could deliver. Even the most complex alerts, those that had never been seen before, were triaged, investigated, and remediated in a matter of minutes. Behind the scenes of his enterprise-grade SOC, there was one manager, one engineer, and one analyst, covering no more than 40 monthly alerts that were escalated, all of them fully covered by AI. ## ******From individual contributor to manager, to security leader****** At Vantage Finance, there wasn’t a defined triage process to separate false positives from genuine threats; however, with little alert volume, the team coped efficiently. Most SOC leaders wait until they’re drowning to look for a lifeline. However, James decided they would not wait for the fire to spread. When **J**ames began building Vantage Finance’s detection program, Radiant Security became a cornerstone of the strategy. Each time a new tool was onboarded, the analysts were amazed by the silence, as if nothing had changed. Behind the scenes, a fleet of AI analysts on the front line was slashing 99% of alert noise. When a real threat emerged, his human analysts could engage it with calm precision. > “10,000 alerts a month. We only have like 40 that our humans really look at, which isn’t bad.” > > > > ********James Callahan******** > Vantage Finance ## ******Phishing response: minutes to onboard, seconds to triage****** With Radiant’s existing API, phishing alerts were onboarded in minutes and automatically triaged, filtering out hundreds of false positives. Approximately 1% of total alerts were escalated to Vantage Finance’s team, which reviewed them in minutes without manual contextual investigation or data stitching across tools. In a single click, responses were executed: malicious emails were deleted, IPs were blocked, and warning emails were sent, all directly from Radiant. > “I’ve worked with resources dedicated to phishing response before, so I was able to see a lot of value in getting that off our plate as quickly as possible.” > > > > ********James Callahan******** > Vantage Finance ### Impact on Daily operations at a glance - **Independence-** manager’s sign-off is no longer required - **Automation-** for triage, investigation, and response - **Speed-** MTTR dropped from hours to 2-3 minutes Results ## **Results: 60k hours saved in one year** By adopting Radiant Security early in its detect-and-respond journey, Vantage Finance built a scalable, adaptive AI-powered foundation that filters noise, accelerates response, and covers both familiar and never-before-seen threats with equal precision. In the first year alone, the platform saved the team 60,000 analyst hours — the equivalent of 29 full-time security analysts working a standard 40-hour week, 52 weeks a year. James built a security program that most enterprise companies don’t have. With Radiant, Vantage Finance’s lean team of two analysts operates with the precision and output of enterprise security teams ten times their size. > “People ask how two analysts handle 10,000 monthly alerts. The answer is simple: they don’t. AI handles 99.6% of them” > > > > ********James Callahan******** > Vantage Finance Disclaimer: Names and identifying details have been replaced with pseudonyms while case study approval is in progress. ### Results at a glance - **100% Coverage**– With Radiant’s adaptive AI, known and unknown alerts are investigated in seconds - **99% Noise Reduction**– Radiant escalates only 40 incidents out of 10k monthly alerts to human analysts - **Time Saving**– Eliminating dozens of hours of triage and investigation frees up time for strategic initiativ