State of the Internal Audit Profession Study

Elevating internal audit’s role: The digitally fit function

Six habits fueling smarter risk taking in digital transformation

Our 2019 Global Risk, Internal Audit and Compliance Survey of 2,000 executives (half in risk functions) shows that as organizations move through digital transformation, internal audit functions that are more digitally fit more effectively help their stakeholders make better decisions, and take smarter risks.

The stakes from digital initiatives are high, in opportunities gained and threats missed from both new technologies and the heightened risks they bring. Now is the time to shift from discussion to action. An internal audit function’s digital fitness must match that of its organisation. If not, gaps across the lines of defence will widen, and more points of entry for risk will appear.

In our survey, we analysed the digital fitness of internal audit functions by looking at five important fitness dimensions:  Vision and roadmap, Ways of working, Operations, Services model and Stakeholder engagement.

We identified six habits that lead to more-digitally-fit risk functions.  As organizations go through digital transformations, these habits help drive effective internal audit and overall risk management performance. Three of these habits in particular give internal audit more dexterity to move all six habits forward. Our lessons from the most digitally fit group, the Dynamics, guide internal audit functions towards what they must do to advance:

• Go all-in on the organization’s digital plan
• Upskill and inject new talent to move at the speed of the organization
• Find the right fit for emerging technologies
• Enabling the organization to act on risks in real time
• Actively engaging decision makers of key digital initiatives
• Collaborating and aligning to provide a consolidated view of risks