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It’s that time again: another AI survey. Only this one is a twist on the familiar favorite, showing that the much-hyped technology has caught the attention of internal auditors.
AI has officially cracked the top five priorities of audit committees in this year’s Audit Priorities Survey from professional services firm Jefferson Wells.
The survey of 250 US audit executives, conducted in May and June, found that audit committees’ top four priorities remained unchanged from last year: data privacy and cybersecurity, emerging risks, strategic risk, and regulatory compliance.
But generative AI made the top five for the first time this year, “indicating a growing interest in the risks and adoption of this technology.” GenAI is an even greater priority for private and smaller (less than $100 million) companies, taking third place.
Attention is one thing; action is another. And the survey shows that organizations are lacking on the AI front.
Just 26% of respondents indicated their companies “have fully integrated GenAI standards” into their governance and compliance frameworks. Jefferson Wells said it expects that percentage to shoot upward next year “as regulation expands.”
Less than a quarter (23%) of internal audit teams are not using GenAI, whereas just last year a majority (63%) indicated they weren’t using the technology, according to the report. Audit departments most commonly deploy GenAI in audit planning (32%), followed closely by brainstorms/summary (31%). Other top areas include reporting, auditing, and audit scope.
Upskilling. GenAI is a challenge, and so is a lack of the technological know-how among audit teams, according to the survey. (This may also sound familiar.)
Jefferson Wells noted a 15% uptick from 2021 in “shortfalls in the necessary capabilities to meet their company’s requirements, along with a misalignment of skills relative to their set priorities.” Organizations are responding to this shortfall by using more “internal business resources” (up 18%) and relying on “external resources” (up 26% YoY).