Research Blog – June 2026
By Ann Brook, Director of Knowledge and Learning
It has been a while since I wrote a research blog, with my last one being in February 2026 and focused on Risk in Focus and the new approach we were taking. It feels like now is a good time to do another, with research published, surveys underway, and more research planned in to tell you about!
Risk in Focus 2026/27 has achieved a milestone with the publication of the interim report in late May. The report analyses the survey results as well as other risk publications. The new survey questions we introduced resulted in some really great insights – particularly linking internal audit planning with risk severity and maturity. We have just finished the risk-focused roundtables, and as always, we will publish a full report in September, with a webinar launch. Following the launch, there will be sector-focused roundtables in the Autumn. So more to come, but in the meantime, I strongly recommend a read of our interim report!
Hot off the press - we have just published a research piece on The Future of the Internal Audit Profession! It takes a look at The IIA’s Vision 2035 research and how that applies in the UK and pulls together conversations had over the course of 2025 through various roundtables. What is clear from this is that AI is very much seen as part of internal audit’s future, but that there are other skills which will be extremely important. If nothing else, it is a thought provoking piece which gives a roadmap to help chief audit executives navigate their way through.
Earlier in the year, we published a white paper, Artificial Intelligence and Internal Audit: Opportunities, Risks and Future Directions. This focused on the adoption of artificial intelligence within internal audit practices, as well as some helpful hints and tips on providing assurance on AI adoption within organisations. It includes 4 detailed use cases on AI within the internal audit engagement process, kindly provided by members who are already on the AI adoption journey. A worthy read to support benchmarking your IA function, but also to get some inspiration on where it could be used and some of the tools that may be helpful.
In our Advocacy team, a report Internal Control Failure! has also been produced, which analysed Financial Conduct Authority enforcement actions over 5 years (between 2021 and 2025). This found that over half of all the fines issued were directly related to internal control failures to the value of over £1bn. While focused on financial services and how internal audit can help prevent firms falling foul, there are likely to be wider lessons for other sectors here too.
Current Research
We have launched another piece of research on Artificial Intelligence. This begins with a survey, which will provide valuable benchmarking information, evaluate the link around AI adoption in internal audit vs its organisation, and on methods and topics of upskilling and training internal audit team members. The report is planned to be published in the Autumn. I highly recommend that you participate in the Artificial Intelligence Survey, which is open right now. The more input we get, the more credible and reliable the analysis is – which means you get great information to help you on your AI journey.
The Global IIA also has a live research survey on the Global Internal Audit Standards adoption. The State of the Standards is open until the end of June, and the output is going to be extremely valuable as feedback to the Global Standards Board, as well as providing benchmarking for internal audit functions across the world.
So what is happening next in research?
Geopolitical risk continues to be volatile, and so some research is planned, which will be driven by some focus group discussions in the Autumn, with a plan to publish in early 2027. We know this space is extremely volatile and full of uncertainty, but it is also really hard to know the best way to provide assurance in this space. We are partnering with AIRMIC on this, bringing a risk management and insurance perspective, as well as two other key assurance providers.
There is potentially more coming too!
If you have any questions about our research, please email us.
Have a great day – and please keep engaging in our research!