The Audit Podcast

Episode: IA on AI – How Finance Leaders Are Using AI and What Audit Can Learn

Host: Trent Russell
Date: September 17, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on how finance leaders are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and explores the key lessons that internal audit professionals can draw from their experiences. Host Trent Russell discusses recent industry reports, emphasizes the importance of having a strategy for AI integration in finance and audit, outlines common gaps in governance and communication, and shares actionable advice for auditors looking to implement AI and analytics more effectively.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Importance of AI Outages and Business Continuity

• Third-Party AI Tools Are Not Infallible
  • Russell references a recent outage from a major AI provider, Anthropics’ Claude, highlighting that “everyone uses third-party hosting and there’s been outages.” [03:10]
  • He connects this to Copilot, noting it's the most-used AI by internal audit departments and drawing parallels to past widespread outages, such as Microsoft’s in 2020-2021.
• Recommendations When AI Tools Are Down
  • “If Copilot were to go down... I would go tell my auditors: Go build a relationship with somebody. Just… go stop by somebody’s office… [and] hang out.” [04:24]
  • Advice for IT audit: Test business continuity plans, review vendor SLAs, especially for critical and customer-facing AI tools, and consider contingency arrangements for AI downtime.

2. Insights from Protiviti’s 2025 Global Finance Trends Survey

• Low Adoption and Strategy Rates
  • Russell summarizes:
    • 27% of finance organizations use AI and have a defined strategy
    • 20% don’t use AI but have a strategy
    • 47% in total have a strategy
    • 45% use AI without a strategy
    • The rest neither use AI nor have a strategy [06:29]
  • Key Risk: “Of course, there’s a risk with finance not having a strategy relative to AI. Even bigger risk with the organization overall not having a strategy within AI.” [07:15]
• Using Survey Data as Evidence
  • Suggests using industry surveys and infographics as “selling points to stakeholders” for additional resources or to justify the need for auditing AI.
  • “You can use this as a way to help yourself get what it is that you need... convincing someone that you need to do the audit or that you need more resources…” [05:57]

3. Challenges with Strategy and Execution in AI Adoption

• The Pitfall of Having No Strategy
  • Cites an example where a CEO hired 22 data scientists with no direction:
    • “A year later there was not a single product in production because there was no strategy. It was ‘go do data science.’ And similarly, I feel like that's what we're seeing. Well, I know that's what we're seeing with AI and in internal audit… ‘go use AI’, [but] we’re not going to put a strategy around it.” [08:05]
  • IA Standards & Structured Approaches
    • New internal audit standards now require a tech strategy, with AI being a major piece.
    • Ad hoc analytics programs often lack structure, formalization, and especially governance. “The governance over the entire program within internal audit is usually where we see the biggest gap.” [09:33]
• How a Defined Strategy Accelerates Progress
  • Once a clear strategy is established (complete with quarter-by-quarter priorities and estimated hours), progress accelerates:
    • “You start to see individual auditors using analytics and AI significantly more, [and] higher value projects being prioritized.” [10:25]
  • Center-of-excellence models can falter without communication and alignment, leading to workload imbalances or silos.

4. Actionable Recommendations

• Don’t Overcomplicate – Just Start
  • “Even if you aren’t an AI or analytics or tech strategist… I highly recommend typing it up as opposed to just sitting around a table and everybody talking about it. Type it up. Put something together across people, process, technology, and governance.” [12:02]
• Seek Expert Help When Needed
  • “That is our bread and butter at Green Skies Analytics. So if you need help… reach out to us. We’ll take a look.” [12:38]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI Downtime as an Opportunity:
  • “Go build a relationship with somebody. Just stop by somebody’s office… hang out.” – Russell [04:24]
• On Strategy Deficiencies:
  • “A year later there was not a single product in production because there was no strategy. It was ‘go do data science.’” – Russell [08:05]
• On the Importance of Structure:
  • “The governance over the entire program within internal audit is usually where we see the biggest gap.” – Russell [09:33]
• On Documenting Strategy:
  • “Type it up. Put something together across people, process, technology, and governance.” – Russell [12:02]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:10] – Discussion of recent outages in major LLMs/AI tools and continuity planning
• [05:57] – Using industry surveys to influence stakeholders and proposals
• [06:29] – Breakdown of Protiviti survey results on AI adoption in finance
• [07:15] – Risks of lacking an AI strategy in finance and audit
• [08:05] – Example of failed data science adoption due to missing strategy
• [09:33] – Common governance and structure gaps in audit AI programs
• [10:25] – Positive impacts of developing and implementing a real strategy
• [12:02] – Advice on crafting and documenting an actionable AI strategy for audit

Final Thoughts

This episode concisely underscores the importance of intentionality and structure in AI adoption within finance and audit functions. Trent Russell recommends grounding technology initiatives in concrete strategy, improving governance, leveraging external data to make the case for AI investment, and not hesitating to bring in expertise when needed. The message: AI isn’t just about buying tools—it’s about building a sustainable, governed program that delivers real value to the business.

For more resources and to connect with Green Skies Analytics, visit the show notes and greenskiesanalytics.com.