The rapid evolution of digital tools and technologies has compelled organizations to rethink their existing infrastructure only to transform them. Technology is at play, with most of the in-house tasks being automated and machine-driven. As more and more organizations dive into the sea of digital transformation, they fall prey to it’s a highly prominent darker side.
Even though the modern era promises to offer top-notch solutions, they are, not at this point in time, capable of fighting risks completely. And that’s not the only thing that businesses today are worried about. Time-traveling a couple of decades before, the core of enterprises was to drive as much profit as possible. However, today the agenda has changed and there is a lot more to focus on.
- The ever-growing market needs.
- The need to abide by government regulations and policies.
- New technologies surfacing the industry.
- Managing risks.
All of these have a profound impact on the internal audit of the enterprise. The auditors now have a gruesome task to assess and analyze the changing scenario, come up with strategic decisions, and help organizations survive and sustain the competition. For organizations that look forward to growth, the above would mean revolutionizing their approach while adapting to the repercussions of the same.
Having said that, there arises a question: Is your organization’s internal audit department digitally fit?
If yes, then you fall among the 19% of the likes, ahead of the rest. If not, it’s time that you acquaint yourself with the future of internal audit and restructure your team to be technology-rich.
Internal Audit Future Trends
The gamut of technology is huge and in order to successfully abide by the expectations of the customers, let alone the stakeholders, you need to innovate and likewise, evolve. Before we move ahead to the part where we see how auditors can help the business grow, we reflect on the different trends that seem to hold a promising future for an organization’s internal audit team.
1. AI and Automation
One of the most long-standing trends transforming businesses today is automation. The onset of artificial intelligence has proven to be a table turner for falling organizational productivity. Organizations are actively advancing towards the integration of robotics process automation and cognitive tools to expand the audit coverage, boost efficiency and accelerate quality.
Besides this, strategic methods are deployed to build models based on use cases of the audit lifecycle to finally release pilot projects.
2. Agile Audit
Though the term agile precedes software development in the majority of the cases, it’s application is far from mere anticipation. Owing to the modulating dynamics of the internal audit departments, the need to predict market disruptions and cyber threats grow. The traditional auditing methods, though proven to help organizations take significant decisions for years, the industry today demands a much more flexible model. Agile auditing is what meets the expectations. Embodying an iterative process, the agile methodology not only adheres to the needs of the business but at the same time adapts progressively.
3. Regulated Monitoring
The unfettered access to data today has forced organizations to put the same to use. Now, this is something that needs to be done regularly and at a faster speed. The ad hoc mechanism adopted by the early day auditors sounded good years ago when data was not of much value. But today, as the quality and quantity keep rising, internal auditors are expected to not only process data but weed out the insignificant data from the valuable ones and then drive insights, helping organizations make strategically sound decisions.
Automated monitoring has stepped in the industry compelling the auditors to robotize their everyday reactive work while they can focus on the strategic needs of the business. The right blend of tools offers insights that are beneficial for the stakeholders as it allows them to have a better view of the future. Also, it would enable them to attain a bird’s eye view on all that happening within the organization to manage and monitor all.
4. Detect and Defy Cyber Risks
It is an integral task of every auditor to manage cyber threats, analyzing and assessing the existing ones, ruling the possibility of the expected ones. With organizations moving towards an integrated infrastructure, risk management isn’t the sole responsibility of the IT departments, rather a combined overhead. The future of internal audit sees cyber threats to be a common operation. In fact, the majority of the top tier industries claim the need to adopt the third line of cyber defense within their organization and to be done by the internal audit team.
A comprehensive assessment plan, followed by the evaluations of the objective and presentation of the finding is what the future of internal audit holds.
5. Crisis Management
Business and risks are two terms paradoxical to each other. And while the nature of business is certain, the same cannot be said for risks. They are largely uncertain and can happen at the most unexpected time and place. Though controlling the unexpected would appear unworldly, organizations can, however, be prepared to face the same and respond in a better way. By respond, we mean the manner in which the crisis is handled. Identify gaps and areas exposed to potential risks would help the organization better deal with situations of crisis.
The key here lies in decision making and it is in the hands of an internal auditor. Though the auditors focused on whether or not they have plans or solutions for a situation of crisis, the industry today seeks a better explanation on whether or not the solution fits the situation. The upcoming times would see a dramatic shift from have we got to does it work? And both the organizations and the auditing team must be ready to have some out of the box conversations. Not to mention, the senior management’s resiliency is about to be tested.
What Can The Auditors Do?
Pretty much obvious that the facet of internal audit needs to be changed and for the good. The auditors would have to undergo a tough time, transitioning from the traditional method to a modern yet balanced mechanism.
Only with the right blend of tools and technologies can the auditors achieve the feat where they guarantee the efficiency of internal business operations while effecting managing risks. Technology is definitely emerging to be the core of processes adopted by internal auditors. Whether it is about evaluating data or dealing with a crisis, managing and monitoring risk, or reprimanding about threats, technology would be at the forefront and in order to align your strategies with the business needs, the adoption of digital tools is a must.
In case, you aren’t sure whether your organization has the right piece to fit the puzzle, Claptek would be happy to assist.
As one of the leading and reliable solutions partner, we cover some of the top tier industries offering exceptional solutions and frameworks. Managing risks, standardizing with the regulatory policies and upscaling business operations are our core values. We adopt matured methods to enrich business solutions and help organizations reach excellence.
Built over knowledge and expertise, Claptek has served the industry for over twenty years now, helping organizations with comprehensive solutions ranging between Business Performance Management to Integrated Risk Management and Data Migration Audits.