Top takeaways from 2026 Focus on the Future: Internal audit’s existential value shift in the age of AI

I’ve helped AuditBoard chronicle internal audit’s evolution through the lens of the annual Focus on the Future survey since 2022. Amid a hypervolatile environment in which interdependent disruptions are not only constant but accelerating, internal audit indeed stands at the inflection point we forecasted at the end of 2024. The 2026 report shines a light on the increasingly existential need for internal auditors to redefine the value we provide in the age of AI.

I was privileged to partner with AuditBoard and Panterra Research to conduct this year’s survey of internal audit leaders across the U.S., Canada, Germany, the UK, and the EU. Against a backdrop of ongoing tension about internal audit’s identity, the survey revealed a number of troubling trends. While organizations have high expectations of internal audit for AI assurance, auditors themselves report low readiness — and continue to underestimate AI’s likely impact.

In 2026, it’s more pressing than ever for us to approach our work in ways that more effectively differentiate the unique value we provide. I will keep ringing this bell as loudly as I can, because our profession’s relevance and survival genuinely depend on it. Download your copy of the full report, 2026 Focus on the Future: New risks for internal audit in a hypervolatile decade, and read on for key takeaways.

1. Internal audit’s actual and ideal roles are still misaligned

Survey results highlight an enduring gap between internal audit’s desired perception in organizations and how we’re actually viewed. While more than half of respondents report aspiring to be seen as trusted advisors, only 21% say they’re viewed that way. Similarly, although one-third want to be seen as strategic partners, only 14% say they are viewed in this way.

The Internal Audit Foundation’s (IAF’s) Vision 2035 report also highlighted this gap: Though 40% of respondents said internal audit is viewed as “trusted advisors,” approximately half said that internal audit is seen as either “compliance-focused” or “police.”

As I wrote in 2026 Focus on the Future, this persistent misalignment carries greater risk in an AI-driven environment. Internal audit functions seen as compliance-focused or low-value will be highly vulnerable to being displaced by AI-driven processes. Conversely, internal auditors who are viewed as strategic partners and trusted advisors will stay relevant, respected, and integral to organizational success and resilience.

Make no mistake: Perception is more critical to internal audit’s survival than technical performance. To mitigate this gap between perception and reality, take immediate action to proactively redefine and demonstrate how internal audit’s insights and assurance support decision-making, strategy, and resilience. The report offers additional guidance.

2. The gap grows between AI assurance expectations and internal audit readiness

Nearly every organization is racing to adopt AI, but AI governance still lags behind adoption. The majority of surveyed organizations (63%) have not yet defined formal risk appetites or governance frameworks for AI use, offering internal auditors little structure for providing assurance. Nevertheless, many face increasing pressure to provide advice or assurance over organizations’ AI use.

The sad reality is that many auditors are ill-equipped to provide either, given their:

• Lack of AI knowledge/experience. Only 28% of respondents are confident in their teams’ ability to audit AI risks effectively, and a small fraction have integrated AI tools into regular audit processes.
• Alarming tendency to underestimate AI’s impact. Only 39% expect AI to have a significant transformative impact on their work by 2030 — a small uptick from last year’s findings, which saw 32% anticipating significant transformation.

Internal audit will unquestionably be transformed by AI’s impact, and yet the profession is still racing at a snail's pace toward fully adopting and integrating AI into its work. This is an unsustainable attitude. How can we expect to provide advice around our organizations’ AI use and risks if we don’t ourselves use/understand AI?

I called out internal audit’s emerging AI credibility gap in last year’s report. The good news: As the 2026 report outlines, this is a fixable problem. Take action now to adopt and learn about AI.

3. Internal auditors must cultivate their “superhuman” strengths

The 2026 survey also explored the human skills that technology currently can’t replace. Top skills identified by respondents include professional skepticism and inquisitiveness; relationship-building and communication; ethical judgment; critical thinking; and intellectual curiosity. Indeed, these superhuman strengths offer internal auditors a roadmap for achieving — and sustaining — future relevance and value.

This is not new guidance. I often write about the need for internal auditors to cultivate these very strengths, including in books such as Trusted Advisors, Agents of Change, and Connected Risk. AI’s proliferation simply increases their importance.

At Audit & Beyond, when an interviewer at theCUBE asked for my assessment of AI’s transformative impact, I echoed my conviction that AI will be as transformational to the human experience as electricity. I also mused, “I just hope we’re up for the challenge, and can recognize what it is that will differentiate us. How can we bring our superhuman skills to the table so that we can stand toe to toe with the capabilities of AI?” It is imperative for every internal auditor to ask and answer this question. As 2026 Focus on the Future outlines, your response should impact how you hire, train, evaluate, and recognize your team.

Internal audit faces a defining moment

My Connected Risk book raised the alarm for all three lines to rethink risk management to address the widening risk exposure gap, created when risk demands exceed organizations’ capacity to address them.

These takeaways’ one-two-three punch highlights internal audit’s own growing risk exposure gap, in which our organizations’ evolving assurance needs could quickly begin to outstrip our capacity to deliver relevant value. To thrive in 2026 and beyond, we urgently need to embrace the twin transformational levers of AI/automation as capacity multipliers and human “superpowers” as differentiators.

For a closer look at these topics, plus insights on emerging risks, ongoing resource challenges, and how leading internal audit teams are responding, download your free copy of 2026 Focus on the Future: New risks for internal audit in a hypervolatile decade. To learn more about how internal auditors are using AI to automate key aspects of audit testing and fieldwork, register for AuditBoard’s live demo and Q&A on November 18.

About the authors

Richard Chambers, CIA, CRMA, CFE, CGAP, is the CEO of Richard F. Chambers & Associates, a global advisory firm for internal audit professionals, and also serves as Senior Advisor, Risk and Audit at AuditBoard. Previously, he served for over a decade as the president and CEO of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). Connect with Richard on LinkedIn.