Are You Really Auditing Your Organization's Top Risks? Why Audit Plans Often Neglect CEO/Board Priorities
Internal audit plans often focus on traditional risks like cybersecurity and fraud, but miss the strategic priorities that CEOs and boards actually care about most - talent management, innovation, customer experience, and business growth. This misalignment creates opportunities for audit teams to provide greater value by addressing first-line business risks.
The Disconnect Between Audit Plans and Executive Priorities
While internal audit teams typically focus on cybersecurity, fraud, ERM, and compliance - the top five 2026 audit areas according to benchmarking surveys - CEOs and boards are more concerned with talent management, product development, innovation, customer satisfaction, market share, and revenue growth.
What CEOs and Boards Really Care About
According to Protiviti's Executive Perspectives on Top Risks report, there's a significant gap between what different executives prioritize:
- CEOs' top concerns include skills/talent acquisition/retention, labor issues, and economic conditions
- Board members align with CEOs on four of their top five risks
- CAEs' priorities overlap with CEO/board priorities on only two risks
- Cybersecurity, while top-ranked overall, doesn't even make CEOs' top five
Strategic Investment Priorities vs. Audit Coverage
The disconnect becomes even clearer when examining strategic investment priorities. CEOs and boards prioritize:
- Business process improvements
- Human capital management and workforce skilling
- Customer experience
- Infrastructure modernization
Yet audit plans show limited coverage of these areas, with most focus remaining on traditional risk areas.
Root Causes of the Misalignment
Several factors contribute to this disconnect:
- Internal Audit often reports to the CFO rather than CEO, influencing perspective
- Industry thought leadership is driven by vendor capabilities
- Risk assessments don't formally include all enterprise risks
- Many audit teams haven't earned trusted-advisor status with CEOs
Building a Better Path Forward
To address this gap, internal audit teams should:
- Excel at core responsibilities to build credibility
- Develop relationships with first-line executives
- Lead with advisory projects rather than traditional audits
- Ensure risk assessments include strategic investments and capital projects
- Focus on risks where the most resources are deployed
As AI and margin pressures continue to impact businesses, internal audit teams that focus solely on traditional areas risk becoming irrelevant. The future belongs to those who can address first-line risks and priorities that drive business success.
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