Security News > 2020 > August > Internal audit leaders should develop new skills to stay relevant

Chief audit executives and internal audit leaders report their next-generation competency levels in three vital areas - governance, methodology and enabling technology - to be remarkably low, a Protiviti survey reveals.

Nearly 780 Chief Audit Executives and internal audit leaders were surveyed across industries to uncover the pressing priorities for internal audit functions when it comes to next-generation auditing skills.

"We continue to advocate for the embrace of a next-generation internal audit mindset and the adoption of the governance, methodology and enabling technology competencies that will position internal audit functions to best support their organizations as they strive to transform amid this pandemic and in the years to come," said Brian Christensen, executive VP, global internal audit, Protiviti.

One telling example of the need for internal audit leaders to step up their innovation and transformation initiatives is that only 10 percent of those surveyed are undertaking process mining - a form of analytics that uses transactional data captured by enterprise systems to analyze and visualize how processes are actually being performed - in their internal audit function, and a surprising 41 percent of respondents reported they have no plans to adopt this enabling technology at all.

While not cited in the survey, many internal audit leaders have been focusing efforts in the following areas: sufficiency of processes related to risk assessment; reporting and other stakeholder communications and interactions; impact to the control environment from the introduction of new technologies as well as broader workforce disruptions; ongoing performance and resilience of critical business functions; and increased use of data and tools.

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