In the 19th edition of its Internal Auditing Around the World profile series, global consulting firm Protiviti has published insights from its interviews with chief audit executives (CAEs) from some of the world’s best-known companies. Amid economic unrest, quickly evolving regulations, a fast-moving risk landscape and rising stakeholder expectations, the report highlights how internal audit teams are organizing to deliver higher levels of relevance and strategic value for stakeholders.
The 2023 edition is titled “Relevance: One Goal, Multiple Paths” and represent a wide cross-section of countries and industries. Organizations profiled include Bayer AG, Carlyle, ETN Turistar, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, GSK, HEMA BV, Hilton, Majid Al Futtaim Retail, Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), PNC, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Wesco, Westpac Group and Zebra Technologies.
“In the last few years, internal audit teams have navigated a global pandemic, huge swings in business conditions, hiring and retention challenges, exploration and adoption of technologies at unprecedented pace and scale, and are now facing return to work dynamics, a shifting regulatory environment and rising stakeholder expectations,” said Andrew Struthers-Kennedy, global leader of Protiviti’s internal audit and financial advisory practice. “The internal audit teams featured in our report are focused on making themselves a critical component of their organizations’ strategic delivery capability, by leaning into these challenges and building next-generation teams and practices, delivering the level of relevance and value expected of even the most demanding of stakeholders.”
The report dives into the different paths internal audit teams are taking to deliver on their core mandates, including utilizing both established and emerging technology tools like advanced analytics, automation, machine learning and even artificial intelligence (AI). There is also a consistent focus on improving the quality and impact of their communication throughout the internal audit lifecycle, including notably through the reporting process. Internal audit leaders are also focused on building next-generation internal audit organizations by investing in their teams, with a very intentional focus on developing the breadth and depth of skills needed to support the needs of the organization now and for what is expected to come next.
The experiences of 14 internal audit leaders are presented as case studies in Protiviti’s report. 