The level of uncertainty in today’s global marketplace and the velocity of change continue to produce an array of potential risks that can disrupt an organization’s business model and strategic plan on very short notice. The results of the latest Top Risks Survey from NC State University’s ERM Initiative and Protiviti indicate the business landscape, to no surprise, looks much riskier for 2023 compared with this time last year. In fact, this year’s survey reveals that executives and directors perceive the current business environment as the riskiest in the 11 years we have conducted this study.  In this episode, we interview Dr. Mark Beasley of NC State University’s ERM Initiative and Jim DeLoach, a Managing Director with Protiviti, about the key findings from this year’s study and their insights as to how board members and executives worldwide view the current and long-term business landscape.  Mark is the Professor of Enterprise Risk Management and Director of the ERM Initiative in the Poole College of Management at NC State University. The ERM Initiative provides thought leadership about ERM practices and their integration with strategy and corporate governance. As founding director, Mark leads the ERM Initiative’s efforts to help pioneer the developments of this emergent discipline.  Jim is a member of the Protiviti Solutions Leadership team. His market focus is on helping organizations succeed in responding to government mandates, shareholder demands and a changing business environment in a cost-effective and sustainable manner that reduces risk to an acceptable level. He assists companies with strategy setting, business planning and performance management.  For more information on this year’s Top Risks Survey, visit http://erm.ncsu.edu and www.protiviti.com/us-en/survey/executive-perspectives-top-risks-2023-and-2032.  Contact Mark at mark_beasley@ncsu.edu.  Contact Jim at jim.deloach@protiviti.com.

Executive Perspectives on Top Risks for 2023 and 2032 - with Mark Beasley and Jim DeLoach

The greatest IT audit concerns lie with cybersecurity-related breaches and related risk issues. Data governance and data integrity are being scrutinized. Regulatory compliance burdens and risk are increasing rapidly.   These are among the key takeaways from the results of the latest IT Audit Technology Risks Survey from ISACA and Protiviti, in which more than 7,500 IT audit leaders and professionals from around the world participated, The results show a dynamic threat landscape that has notably increased in severity since the last survey.The report from ISACA and Protiviti, IT Audit Perspectives on Today’s Top Technology Risks, is available at isaca.org and protiviti.com/itauditsurvey.  In this podcast, Robin Lyons of ISACA and Angelo Poulikakos of Protiviti share their insights on the survey’s key findings and, perhaps most importantly, what they signify for IT audit functions and their organizations.  Robin’s role is IT Audit Professional Practices Principal with ISACA. Angelo is a Managing Director with Protiviti and global leader of the firm’s Technology Audit practice.  Contact Robin at rlyons@isaca.org.  Contact Angelo at angelo.poulikakos@protiviti.com.

IT Audit Perspectives on Today’s Top Technology Risks

Innovation, transformation and the introduction of more advanced technologies are on the agendas of most groups in an organization today. The same certainly holds true for internal audit functions – but perhaps not at the same levels of engagement as departments such as finance and IT. In fact, the results of the latest Next-Generation Internal Audit Survey from Protiviti show that overall maturity levels for enabling technologies such as advanced analytics and process mining trend lower than areas of governance and methodology.Many CAEs and internal audit leaders want to capitalize on the greater efficiency and precision that more advanced technologies and automation can offer but are uncertain of how or where to get started.For this podcast, we sat down to discuss these issues and challenges with Protiviti Managing Director Angelo Poulikakos. Angelo is the global leader of the Technology Audit practice with Protiviti. For more information, read Innovation and Transformation Are Driving the Future of Internal Auditing, which is available at www.protiviti.com/IASurvey. Contact Angelo at angelo.poulikakos@protiviti.com.For a full transcript of this podcast, contact Kevin Donahue: kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Powerful Insights - Building Technology- and Data-Enabled Auditing Capabilities - with Angelo Poulikakos

Organizations are investing an average of 41% of their SOX internal costs for outsourced resources, compared with 37% last year.In this podcast, Protiviti Managing Directors Clint McPherson and Seth Schrank discuss opportunities to pursue procedural and structural changes in SOX compliance programs, most notably through the use of third-party delivery centers to handle the highly defined and repeatable controls testing work that dominates SOX compliance efforts.Protiviti’s annual SOX Compliance Survey benchmarks compliance costs, hours, processes and improvements, including how these areas are affected by current business conditions. This year’s results show that costs, along with the hours that internal audit teams devote to SOX compliance, continue to increase across most, if not all, company sizes, industries and reporting types. A number of results in this year’s survey showcase the commitment of internal audit and SOX teams to improve the efficacy and efficiency of SOX compliance efforts in the face of cost pressures, intensifying scrutiny from external auditors, labor shortages, remote and hybrid working models, broad and accelerated enterprise projects (e.g., system implementations) that result in changes/increases in scope, and other challenges. Many of these opportunities involve increased use of automation, as they absolutely should. Yet many internal audit teams have yet to explore another valuable opportunity to notch major improvements via a familiar but overlooked mechanism: centers of excellence and related service-delivery models.For more information, read SOX Compliance Amid Rising Costs, Labor Shortages and Other Post-Pandemic Challenges, available at www.protiviti.com/SOXSurvey. Contact Clint at clint.mcpherson@protiviti.com.Contact Seth at seth.schrank@protiviti.com. For a full transcript of this podcast, contact Kevin Donahue: kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Opportunities for greater efficiencies in SOX compliance programs may have a familiar ring to them - with Clint McPherson and Seth Schrank

“It's the end of the work as we know it, and I feel fine.”Our colleague Joe Kornik, Editor-in-Chief of VISION by Protiviti (http://vision.protiviti.com), wrote this in his latest feature article. This is true, but there also are many questions around the future of work, how we're going to balance work schedules, when and how frequently we’ll go into the office, how we’ll leverage new and emerging technologies, and much more. In this episode, we discuss these and other topics with Protiviti Managing Directors Andrea Spinelli and Ken Thomas. Our conversation touches on numerous future of work-related topics, specifically as they pertain to the finance organization. Andrea and Ken talk about achieving the right balance between an in-office versus hybrid work model, developing new people skills, and of course, the use of technologies in the right places. As they explain, no one said the future of work was going to be easy. Among other things, it’s about achieving the right balance, understanding where we are going to work, understanding how we are going to work, and determining what roles are going to require full-time employees versus what roles can be handled through a managed services model.Andrea and Ken are leaders in Protiviti’s Business Performance Improvement solution, focusing on finance, transformation, managed business solutions and more.For more information, visit the Finance Transformation section on www.protiviti.com. Also, learn more about the benefits of a managed services model at www.protiviti.com/MBS. Read Protiviti’s latest global CFO research report, Security, Data, Analytics, Automation, Flexible Work Models and ESG Define Finance Priorities, at www.protiviti.com/financesurvey. Contact Andrea at andrea.spinelli@protiviti.com.Contact Ken at ken.thomas@protiviti.com. For a full transcript of this podcast, contact Kevin Donahue: kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

People, Technologies and the Future of Work in Finance – with Protiviti’s Andrea Spinelli and Ken Thomas

The past two years have seen unprecedented levels of innovation and transformation among organizations worldwide. Many organizations are operating in a significantly different manner than they did just a few years ago — focused on resilience, data access and governance, predictive analytics, enabling technologies, and more. Innovation and transformation, in fact, are now mainstays in ensuring businesses stay relevant and competitive over the long term.This unquestionably is a mindset that chief audit executives and their internal audit teams must adopt as well — and many have. According to the results of the latest Next-Generation Internal Audit Survey from Protiviti, a majority of internal audit departments have completed or are currently undertaking transformation or innovation initiatives. And perhaps more important, returns on investment are viewed to be substantial.In this episode of Powerful Insights, we talk with Protiviti managing directors Ashley Cuevas and Mark Peters, who discuss some of the highlights from our global study and what they’re seeing in the market regarding these matters.Ashley is the global head of innovation for Protiviti, and Mark is a leader in Protiviti’s global IT Audit practice.Contact Ashley at ashley.cuevas@protiviti.com.Contact Mark at mark.peters@protiviti.co.uk. For more information and to find our research report, Innovation and Transformation Are Driving the Future of Internal Auditing, visit www.protiviti.com/IAsurvey.  Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Innovation and Transformation Are Driving the Future of Internal Auditing - with Protiviti's Ashley Cuevas and Mark Peters

Ongoing challenges triggered by a once-in-a-century airborne pandemic continue to unfold, reminding executives that the seemingly countless uncertainties in the market have triggered an overwhelming landscape of ever-changing risks they must manage. Staying abreast of emerging risk issues and opportunities is becoming increasingly difficult. Considering the rapid pace of disruptive innovation and technological developments in a rapidly advancing digital world, the need for resilience and agility at pivoting when the unexpected occurs is at all-time highs.These are among the many notable takeaways from the latest Executive Perspectives on Top Risks study from Protiviti and NC State University’s ERM Initiative. This episode of Powerful Insights features an informative discussion with Dr. Mark Beasley of NC State University’s ERM Initiative and Jim DeLoach, Managing Director with Protiviti. Mark is the Professor of Enterprise Risk Management and Director of the ERM Initiative in the Poole College of Management at NC State University. The ERM Initiative provides thought leadership about ERM practices and their integration with strategy and corporate governance. As founding director, Mark leads the ERM Initiative’s efforts to help pioneer the developments of this emergent discipline.Jim is a member of the Protiviti Solutions Leadership team. His market focus is on helping organizations succeed in responding to government mandates, shareholder demands and a changing business environment in a cost-effective and sustainable manner that reduces risk to an acceptable level. He assists companies with strategy setting, business planning and performance management.In the 10th annual edition of this global survey, Protiviti and NC State University’s ERM Initiative report on the top risks on the minds of global boards of directors and executives in 2022 and over the next 10 years, into 2031. Our respondent group, which includes 1,453 board members and C-suite executives from around the world, provided their perspectives about the potential impact over the next 12 months and next decade of 36 risk issues.For more information and to find the research report, Executive Perspectives on Top Risks for 2022 and 2031, visit www.protiviti.com/toprisks. Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Executive Perspectives on Top Risks for 2022 and 2031 - with Mark Beasley and Jim DeLoach

In this episode, Jackie Sanz, Managing Director leading Protiviti’s Canadian Risk and Compliance solution, interviews Vlad Tasevski, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Product at Purpose Investments, and Elliot Johnson, Chief Investment officer and Chief Operation Officer at Evolve ETFs. Jackie, Vlad and Elliot discuss the current and future state of cryptocurrency. To learn more about Protiviti’s Risk Transformation services, visit us at our website: www.protiviti.com/US-en/risk-compliance/risk-transformation. Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Future of Cryptocurrency: EFTs and an Evolving Regulatory Regime-with Vlad Tasevski from Purpose Investments and Elliot Johnson from Evolve

Cybersecurity continues to be a critical area of concern for organizations and virtually any leader you ask – board members, CIOs, CFOs, and many more. But as elevated as those risks are today, the real threat may be just around the corner, particularly concerning cryptocurrency. Crypto has been viewed as highly secure, but the rapid emergence of quantum computing, which is set to deliver practical applications and capabilities within just a few years, is changing the game.Protiviti recently conducted a webinar on this topic titled “Preparing for the Quantum Threat to Cryptography and Cryptocurrency.” The lead expert and host of this webinar was Protiviti Associate Director Konstantinos Karagiannis, who is head of Quantum Computing Services at Protiviti and also hosts his own podcast called “The Post-Quantum World,” available wherever you get your podcast content. Konstantinos has been helping companies with quantum computing threats and opportunities since 2012. In this podcast, we address some of the many questions that came in during the webinar that Konstantinos was unable to get to during the webinar itself. Protiviti’s webinar, “Preparing for the Quantum Threat to Cryptography and Cryptocurrency,” is available on demand at www.protiviti.com/webinars. Subscribe to The Post-Quantum World, hosted by Konstantinos, available on all major podcast platforms.Follow Konstantinos on Twitter and Instagram: @KonstantHacker and follow Protiviti Technology on LinkedIn and Twitter: @ProtivitiTech. Visit Protiviti at www.protiviti.com/postquantum to learn more about how Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready.For a full transcript of this podcast, contact Kevin Donahue: kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Preparing for the Quantum Threat to Cryptography and Cryptocurrency

It has been an active and often wild ride in the IPO market over the past year. After a slow period during the heart of the initial COVID-19 crisis, market activity has reignited at a blistering pace, driven by optimism in the global economy and the emergence of special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, among other factors.There is ample excitement right now about IPOs, but there also are areas to be mindful of and manage effectively in order to achieve a successful public offering. Patience and proper preparation are a must.In this podcast, Protiviti Managing Directors Susan Alexander, Brad Rachmiel, Charlie Soranno and Nick Spinks, leaders in Protiviti’s Public Company Transformation group, discuss the overall state of the market and some of the key issues and concerns for organizations to address effectively during the overall IPO process.For more information, visit the Public Company Transformation page on the Protiviti website at www.protiviti.com/PCT. A wealth of information and insights are available, including the fourth edition of Protiviti’s highly regarded Guide to Public Company Transformation: Frequently Asked Questions. Contact Susan at susan.alexander@protiviti.com. Contact Brad at brad.rachmiel@protiviti.com. Contact Charlie at charles.soranno@protiviti.com. Contact Nick at nicholas.spinks@protiviti.com. Transcriptions of our Powerful Insights podcasts are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com

Riding a Hot IPO Market – Capitalizing on Opportunities and Managing Key Challenges

Like organizations in virtually every industry today, utilities are addressing a number of critical challenges and trends in the market, from infrastructure demands, to calls to improve the customer experience, to talent demands, and much more.How will the future for utilities evolve? In this informative podcast, Peter Tumminello and Claire Gotham offer a number of interesting insights into these issues. Pete is recently retired group president of commercial businesses for Southern Company Gas, and currently serves as a board member for a midstream natural gas company. Claire is a managing director for Protiviti and a leader in the firm’s Utilities Industry practice. For more information and insights from Protiviti, visit www.protiviti.com/US-en/energy. Contact Claire at claire.gotham@protiviti.com.

Today’s Challenges and Trends for Utilities

The current and future state of suspicious activity monitoring and reporting is being transformed by technology and the use of data, analytics and robotics. In this episode, Mark Highton – Managing Director leading Protiviti’s Financial Crimes Consulting practice, interviews Vishal Ranjane – Head of Global AML Strategies, Solutions and Transformation at TD Bank, and Seth Twery – VP of Client Engagement at Tookitaki. Mark, Vishal and Seth consider the journey to the “Holy Grail” and what and how the current financial crime operating models will change to meet this goal. Listen to this podcast to learn about the steps organizations must take to transform their transaction monitoring processes, the consequences of not transforming and what is needed for the future to bring us closer to “the holy grail.”To learn more about Protiviti’s Risk Transformation services, visit us at www.protiviti.com/US-en/risk-compliance/risk-transformation. Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Future of Transaction Monitoring: Chasing the Holy Grail

The range of challenges and uncertainty triggered by the pandemic continue to rise, but one key element has elevated as imminent - the future work environment.Do you know where all your employees are working? Which policy exceptions and accommodations do you need to amend or revise once your firm adopts a new, more permanent operating model? Are your systems able to provide proper oversight?This podcast features an informative discussion with Scott Anderson, Chief Compliance Officer with Société Générale, and Managing Directors Sean Gleason and Doug Wilbert from Protiviti. As part of their conversation, they assess the impact of the distributed work environment on the effectiveness of traditional compliance and oversight tools.

Navigating the ‘New’ Environment of the Distributed Workforce

A global pandemic caused by a rare airborne virus that continues to affect organizations in different ways around the world. A growing number of stakeholders in organizations with whom internal audit needs to partner. Business models and a risk landscape with seemingly shorter cycle times than in years past.These challenges are among many facing Chief Audit executives and their teams. They underscore the need to adopt next-generation internal audit practices to be more agile and technology-enabled, to have the required skill sets in alignment with these practices, and to achieve a real-time level of engagement with risk management, data and controls. But for most, the next-generation audit journey is just beginning. In fact, the results from Protiviti’s 2021 Next-Generation Internal Audit Survey reveal relatively low maturity levels in different areas of governance, methodology and enabling technology. The results of this survey are detailed in Protiviti’s report, The Next Generation Internal Audit Journey Needs To Begin Now. This is available at Protiviti.com/IASurvey. In this podcast, Protiviti’s Liz Berger and Andrew Struthers-Kennedy share their insights and notable takeaways from the study. Liz is a director with Protiviti’s Internal Audit and Financial Advisory practice, while Andrew is a managing director and global leader for Protiviti’s IT Audit practice. Contact Liz at liz.berger@protiviti.com.Contact Andrew at andrew.struthers-kennedy@protiviti.com.For more information, visit www.protiviti.com/IASurvey.

The Next-Generation Internal Audit Journey Needs to Begin Now

The most significant technology risks for 2021 reflect the new world defined by COVID-19 and its impact on business conditions and priorities. What is increasingly apparent is that more digitally mature organizations have a clear advantage. ISACA and Protiviti recently conducted a global survey of more than 7,400 IT audit and risk leaders to obtain their perspectives on the top technology risks their organizations are facing. The results are enlightening, with cybersecurity and privacy issues, regulatory compliance, data, disaster recovery, and other pandemic-driven concerns ranking among the top technology risks for organizations globally.In this episode, Robin Lyons and Paul Phillips from ISACA and Andrew Struthers-Kennedy from Protiviti discuss some of the notable findings and takeaways from this study. Robin is IT Audit Professional Practices Lead with ISACA. Paul is IT Risk Professional Practices Lead at ISACA. Andrew is a managing director and global leader for Protiviti’s IT Audit practice. Contact Robin at rlyons@isaca.org. Contact Paul at pphillips@isaca.org. Contact Andrew at andrew.struthers-kennedy@protiviti.com.For more information, visit www.protiviti.com/ITAuditSurvey.

IT Audit’s Perspectives on the Top Technology Risks for 2021

It's been more than a year since a historic global pandemic changed the way companies operate in the near term, and very likely for the long term future. We can see the impact on numerous fronts, certainly including the time, costs and efforts organizations are investing in their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance activities. And for certain companies the use of technology and automation rose to the forefront over this past year as a key advantage. Protiviti recently published the results of its latest Sarbanes-Oxley compliance survey. We recently had the opportunity to chat with two Protiviti experts on the expansive and often challenging areas related to SOX compliance. Kristen Kelly is a director with Protiviti’s Internal Audit and Financial Advisory practice. Angelo Poulikakos is a managing director with Protiviti’s IT Audit practice. Over the course of our chat, Angelo and Kristen talk about SOX compliance during the pandemic; growth in technology and automation and, for many companies, the best place to get started; and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance hours that are required, which continue their long term trend to rise on an annual basis.Protiviti’s report, SOX Compliance and the Promise of Technology and Automation, is available at Protiviti.com/SOXSurvey.Contact Kristen Kelly at kristen.kelly@protiviti.com. Contact Angelo Poulikakos at angelo.poulikakos@protiviti.com.

SOX Compliance and the Promise of Technology and Automation

Australia's mandatory data breach notification scheme has now been in place for a few years, and there are certain takeaways we have seen on notifications. Marc Coleman from Protiviti Australia and Baker McKenzie’s Anne Petterd discuss data breaches in the context of what has been learnt from the mandatory data breach notification scheme, including the impact on notifications, what data breach practices have organisations implemented, and how have they assessed and applied the serious harm test. This is episode 2 of a 3-part series on privacy. Protiviti Australia teamed up with law firm Baker McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.com/en) for Privacy Awareness Week, an initiative of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au/), which highlights the importance of protecting personal information and helps organisations navigate the privacy landscape. Find our other resources and insights here: www.protiviti.com/AU-en/insights/privacy-awareness-week-2021. Marc Coleman is a Manager in Protiviti Australia’s Cyber Security & Privacy team with key experience in privacy, information security, and regulatory change. Anne Petterd is a Partner in the Technology, Communications & Commercial team at Baker McKenzie. Her expertise is in online, telecommunications, IT businesses, defence, and government procurement.

Data Breaches: What Have We Learnt From The Mandatory Data Breach Notification Scheme?

What are the main privacy risks and issues that organisations need to be across today?That is the question tackled in this podcast. Along with this, Protiviti Australia’s Hanneke Catts and Toby Patten of Baker McKenzie discuss how these privacy risks are being approached, and look at how organisations are implementing a privacy by design approach to ensure their privacy policies are fit for purpose.This is episode 1 of a 3-part series on privacy. Protiviti Australia teamed up with law firm Baker McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.com/en) for Privacy Awareness Week, an initiative of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au/), which highlights the importance of protecting personal information and helps organisations navigate the privacy landscape. Find our other resources and insights here: www.protiviti.com/AU-en/insights/privacy-awareness-week-2021. Hanneke Catts is a Director in Protiviti Australia's Sydney office. Her professional experience is focused on IT consulting and IT audit. This includes IT project management and assurance, IT controls assurance, IT general control reviews, and IT security compliance.Toby Patten is a Baker McKenzie Partner, who specialises in transactional and advisory information technology, healthcare, and intellectual property matters.

Privacy: What Are The Risks And How To Safeguard Against These?

The current and future state of risk analytics is bedrock to empowering the compliance function’s forward-looking agenda. As enterprise risks, analytics advancements and the regulatory landscape evolve, compliance can transform by being further data-driven and empower intelligent decision-making and risk detection.In this episode, Constantine Boyadjiev – Managing Director leading Protiviti’s Global Risk & Compliance Analytics practice, interviews Griselda Rondon – EVP Chief Model Risk Officer and Analytics Oversight at KeyBank, and Harsh Singhal – Head of Decision Science and Artificial Intelligence Validation at Wells Fargo. Constantine, Griselda and Harsh discuss how financial services organizations can embrace change, harness technology, and bring innovation to the field of governance, analytics, risk and compliance.Listen to this podcast to learn about current compliance function skillsets, what is needed for the future and how compliance can be transformed from performing reactive tasks to managing and mitigating future risks.  To learn more about Protiviti’s Risk Transformation services, visit us at our website: www.protiviti.com/US-en/risk-compliance/risk-transformation. Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com.

Future of Analytics: Empowering Intelligent Decision Making

Protiviti CEO Joe Tarantino recently sat down for an in-depth interview with PGA Tour player Matthew Fitzpatrick, a 6-time winner internationally. The two discussed golf, the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on the PGA Tour, playing in the upcoming Olympics, and Matt’s relationship with Protiviti. For this interview, Joe and Matt met just before the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage tournament at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Matt finished that weekend’s tournament in a three-way tie for fourth place, at 13 under par.For more information, visit www.protiviti.com/golf. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattFitz94Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com

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