Governance Unplugged – Internal Audit, Risk & Controls
Governance Unplugged - Internal Audit, Risk & Controls
Podcast Description
Governance Unplugged is a podcast dedicated to exploring the essential pillars of sound governance to help organizations thrive in today’s dynamic business environment. Designed for internal auditors, risk managers, senior management and board members, the podcast delves into how robust governance, risk management, and internal controls lay the foundation for organizational safety and prosperity. By providing meaningful insights and practical strategies, the podcast aims to equip listeners with interesting insights supporting their needs to safeguard their organizations and ensure long-term success.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores themes such as internal audits' evolving role, risk management strategies, and governance principles. Notable episodes include discussions on the transformation of internal audit with insights from industry leaders like Nicolas Steyaert and Cynthia Boumann, focusing on topics like internal audit’s strategic influence and integrating AI into auditing processes.
Governance Unplugged is a podcast dedicated to exploring the essential pillars of sound governance to help organizations thrive in today’s dynamic business environment. Designed for internal auditors, risk managers, senior management and board members, the podcast delves into how robust governance, risk management, and internal controls lay the foundation for organizational safety and prosperity. By providing meaningful insights and practical strategies, the podcast aims to equip listeners with interesting insights supporting their needs to safeguard their organizations and ensure long-term success.
The Radar, Not the Mirror
Signal, Sensor and Story: Transforming Internal Audit from Assurance to Anticipation
Governance Unplugged: Internal Audit, Risk & Controls | Episode 24
Host: Thomas Michel | Guest: Ana Riva, Head of Group Internal Audit, Syngenta
Episode Summary
A bridge collapses. One person explains why it failed. Another designs a bridge that never collapses. For most of its history, Internal Audit has been the first person: an excellent historian. But business now moves at Formula One speed, while many audit functions still report through the rear-view mirror.
Thomas Michel talks with Ana Riva, Head of Group Internal Audit at Syngenta, about how Internal Audit can move from assurance to anticipation and become the organization’s strategic radar. Her answer: three things working as one system. The signal (clarity over existing and emerging risks), the sensor (AI and digital tools for real-time, full-population auditing), and the story (the discipline of turning findings into action).
About the Guest
Ana Riva leads Group Internal Audit at Syngenta, one of the world’s largest agriculture and crop science businesses. She has also served as an independent member of the Risk Management and Sustainability Committee of Ignitis Group, giving her a view from both sides of the table.
In This Episode
[00:00] Cold open: the historian and the architect
[00:00] Why now? From assurance to anticipation
[00:00] The signal: clarity over existing and emerging risks
[00:00] Building the forecast in practice
[00:00] The sensor: AI and the end of the sample
[00:00] Getting started with AI: experiment, then scale
[00:00] The story: storytelling as a discipline
[00:00] Signal, sensor and story together, plus key takeaways
What You Will Learn
▪ Why the forecast of emerging risks, not today’s weather, earns Internal Audit its seat at the table
▪ Audit’s forgotten superpower: an independent, enterprise-wide view that connects the dots between silos, without ever grabbing the wheel
▪ How AI ends the “tyranny of the sample,” turning an annual photograph into a live video
▪ Why AI should not shrink the audit function, and where the time saved should go
▪ How Syngenta is starting with AI: pattern analysis of ten years of audit reports, control matrices, and report writing
▪ Three questions every audit report should answer: Why does this matter? What could happen? What should we do next?
Memorable Quotes
“Nobody ever changed their behavior because of a risk heat map.”
“The data analysis is what makes audit results right. The story is what makes audit results matter.”
“The most correct warning in the world is worthless if nobody turns the wheel.”
A Challenge for Listeners
Look at the last report you sent to your committee. Was it a screen full of accurate blips, or one sentence someone could act on? And when the next big decision comes, will the business call you into the room before it is taken?
Connect with Ana Riva
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anariva
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