2023 Focus on the Future Report

AuditBoard’s 2023 Focus on the Future survey of North American internal audit leaders revealed a lack of alignment between top risks facing businesses and the level of effort internal audit is putting toward those vulnerabilities. For example, while respondents ranked the ability to attract and retain top talent, macroeconomic factors and geopolitical uncertainty, and business model disruptions due to an evolving digital risk landscape as high-risk, only 16%, 13%, and 20% plan to dedicate substantial resources to these three areas, respectively. Authored by Richard Chambers, Senior Internal Audit Advisor at AuditBoard, 2023 Focus on the Future: Internal Audit Must Accelerate Its Response in Addressing Key Risks also found that despite repeated signs of a looming economic slowdown that could further impact businesses in the year ahead, internal auditors are generally optimistic about their budgets and available talent — though they acknowledge the challenges that current resource levels present in the face of mounting uncertainty.