A Practical AI Upskilling Model for Auditors

Nancy, can you tell me how has your team's approach to learning and developing AI skills evolved over the past few years?

Our company has been using AI and generative AI for the last few years, and so the question we had was, how do we get people prepared so that when AI is in production, we are confident in knowing how we audit it? But also, equally, we are part of our company strategy to also be committed to using AI as well.

So I would say our journey has been where we wanted to make sure we create a baseline awareness across our audit department to really understand the benefits of AI, but equally important, the risk of AI.

So we have provided very broad general awareness training to set the foundation, uh, the last two years, and we are pretty much in the process where that has shifted from broad awareness learning to more practical immersive learning so that it is relevant learning in terms of what we need to know to use AI in our audit work.

But equally important, we also need to know enough to audit it with confidence.

So that's been our, our shift in evolution in terms of department learning and, uh, making sure that we are teaching people the right things to use it, but also, uh, be able to audit it as well.

That's good.

I love that answer.

You've given me a lot to unpack.

I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna explore a few things, if you don't mind.

When you talk about this, I hear, uh, you very importantly saying, "We're using it, but we're also learning how to use it because we need to audit it, so we need to understand the risk side.

In order to understand the risk side, we have to kind of have a hands-on approach." Can you talk a little specifically about that and maybe some examples if, if, if you can?

Sure.

I-- let me t- also take a step back to share with you even more specific on how we approach this.

So I like to say that the recipe for success to upskill, uh, in this space for us has been where it's important to think about this in the three, three legged stool, like a three-pronged approach.

So auditors do need the right mindset, the right skill set, and then the right tool set.

So we like to think that those three parts are equally important to be successful and strong adopters of AI, but also equally important to be, you know, aware with experience and usage to audit it with confidence.

So I would say those are the three ways we focus to help the individual auditor get the right learning and mindset to embrace and lean in to some of the things that I think, you know, when people hear about tools, it, it is intimidating, especially for business auditors in some cases.

But I think we are promoting the right level of thinking, right level of curiosity through healthy exchange and learning, so that when we give people the tools, they also have the skills, uh, through the formal training I, I kind of described earlier.

But also making sure that people are really openly embracing, you know, what's provided to them.

And, and I think on-- at the department level, we provide a lot of, uh, ways to create and foster sharing of actual ways people are using AI in the audit workflow.

And I think people are able to do that because we've actually intentionally offered AI boot camps where, for example, we obviously as an organization, and like many organizations, offered Copilot licenses, M365 Copilot licenses.

So people now have the tools, and when they use it, we identify case studies where people have used these tools in a practical way to solve some of the, the audit task across the workflow.

And it's through that sharing that I think is really fostering a very healthy level of confidence that, like, if they see so and so do it, why can't I do it? And, and so it's really inspiring and motivated people as well to lean in through that type of natural healthy sharing.

Nancy, can you tell me how has your team's approach to learning and developing AI skills evolved over the past few years?

Our company has been using AI and generative AI for the last few years, and so the question we had was, how do we get people prepared so that when AI is in production, we are confident in knowing how we audit it? But also, equally, we are part of our company strategy to also be committed to using AI as well.

So I would say our journey has been where we wanted to make sure we create a baseline awareness across our audit department to really understand the benefits of AI, but equally important, the risk of AI.

So we have provided very broad general awareness training to set the foundation, uh, the last two years, and we are pretty much in the process where that has shifted from broad awareness learning to more practical immersive learning so that it is relevant learning in terms of what we need to know to use AI in our audit work.

But equally important, we also need to know enough to audit it with confidence.

So that's been our, our shift in evolution in terms of department learning and, uh, making sure that we are teaching people the right things to use it, but also, uh, be able to audit it as well.

That's good.

I love that answer.

You've given me a lot to unpack.

I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna explore a few things, if you don't mind.

When you talk about this, I hear, uh, you very importantly saying, "We're using it, but we're also learning how to use it because we need to audit it, so we need to understand the risk side.

In order to understand the risk side, we have to kind of have a hands-on approach." Can you talk a little specifically about that and maybe some examples if, if, if you can?

Sure.

I-- let me t- also take a step back to share with you even more specific on how we approach this.

So I like to say that the recipe for success to upskill, uh, in this space for us has been where it's important to think about this in the three, three legged stool, like a three-pronged approach.

So auditors do need the right mindset, the right skill set, and then the right tool set.

So we like to think that those three parts are equally important to be successful and strong adopters of AI, but also equally important to be, you know, aware with experience and usage to audit it with confidence.

So I would say those are the three ways we focus to help the individual auditor get the right learning and mindset to embrace and lean in to some of the things that I think, you know, when people hear about tools, it, it is intimidating, especially for business auditors in some cases.

But I think we are promoting the right level of thinking, right level of curiosity through healthy exchange and learning, so that when we give people the tools, they also have the skills, uh, through the formal training I, I kind of described earlier.

But also making sure that people are really openly embracing, you know, what's provided to them.

And, and I think on-- at the department level, we provide a lot of, uh, ways to create and foster sharing of actual ways people are using AI in the audit workflow.

And I think people are able to do that because we've actually intentionally offered AI boot camps where, for example, we obviously as an organization, and like many organizations, offered Copilot licenses, M365 Copilot licenses.

So people now have the tools, and when they use it, we identify case studies where people have used these tools in a practical way to solve some of the, the audit task across the workflow.

And it's through that sharing that I think is really fostering a very healthy level of confidence that, like, if they see so and so do it, why can't I do it? And, and so it's really inspiring and motivated people as well to lean in through that type of natural healthy sharing.