As risk skyrockets, current and former CFOs are in demand for audit committees

I attended the launch event of the Institute of Internal Auditors’ (IIA) Global Audit Committee Center last week in Washington, D.C., which addressed the challenges and opportunities facing audit committees.
The center is designed to be a resource to strengthen the alliance between audit committees of boards and internal audit in a fast-changing risk environment. It offers research, webinars, and events and will ultimately add formal training programs.

“The center has a very strong core belief—well-informed, engaged, and well-supported audit committees are essential to corporate governance,” said Anthony Pugliese, president and CEO of the IIA.

Pugliese emphasized that board audit committees need to turn to internal audit to truly understand what is happening inside an organization. The event drew members from across the U.S. and around the world, including Canada, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, with Abdullah Alshebeili, CEO of the Saudi Authority of Internal Auditors, in attendance.

CFOs, in particular, work with internal audit on risk assessment, internal controls, and audit readiness, and they share information on financial processes and control issues. Finance chiefs also communicate regularly with the board’s audit committee.

AI and analytics reshape how audit committees see risk

During a panel discussion at the event, Ann Cohen, CFO of the IIA, said audit committees are increasingly using AI and advanced technology to connect different types of risk—third-party, financial, operational, cyber, and regulatory. They are using analytics to surface anomalies and emerging risks earlier, support proactive oversight, and run “what if” analyses before risks materialize. “It allows us to be more responsive to risks and provide more robust assurance to stakeholders,” she said.

A major focus is “everyday AI,” said Sarah Francis of the EY Center for Board Effectiveness. “I think audit committees are really also looking at, ‘How do we start to touch, feel, smell, and get used to the products that are out there?’” Directors, many of whom are active executives, are also thinking about how to deploy these tools effectively. “There have to be clear governance frameworks for AI and analytics,” she said, noting that prompts—and the people who craft them—matter. She highlighted the need for experts who can help frame broader questions around ethics within responsible AI frameworks.

Audit committees can and should engage with technology as they work toward a fully defined plan, commented Luke Whorton, executive search and leadership consultant at Spencer Stuart in the firm’s Financial Officer Practice. “How do you create a foundation, but one that’s agile and responsive, because it’s going to continue to change rapidly?” he asked.

“Audit committees need to be curious,” Cohen said. “They need to challenge management on their inputs, on their assumptions and their judgment, and on what they’ve embedded into their AI outputs.”

The committees that challenge assumptions and lean into technology, alongside strong partnerships with internal audit, could be well-positioned to safeguard trust in an uncertain world.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Linda LaGorga will step down as CFO of Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTG), an advanced materials science provider,  effective Feb. 28. Effective March 1. Mike Sauer, Entegris’ VP, controller and chief accounting officer, will assume the role of interim CFO, in addition to maintaining the responsibilities of his current role. LaGorga will serve as a senior advisor to Entegris through May 15. Entegris has initiated a search process for a permanent CFO with an executive search firm. Sauer has 37 years of experience in finance and accounting roles at Entegris. 

Hugo Doetsch was appointed CFO of AuditBoard, a governance, risk, and compliance platform. Doetsch brings over two decades of financial leadership and strategic operating experience to AuditBoard. Most recently, he served as CFO at symplr, an enterprise health care operations software provider. Before that, he was CFO at NetDocuments, a cloud-based content management platform. Doetsch also held senior leadership roles at Ping Identity, where he assisted the company in a 2019 initial public offering.

Big Deal

The 2026 Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies list was released this morning. The annual ranking of corporate reputation is based on a poll of some 3,000 executives, directors, and analysts. 

Apple has been No. 1 for 19 consecutive years. Amazon and Microsoft have filled out the top three for seven years in a row. Berkshire Hathaway (No. 6) and Alphabet (No. 8) have each been in the top 10 for well over a decade. Berkshire, the conglomerate nurtured by Warren Buffett, holds the distinction of having been on the All-Star list every single year since it launched in 1998; it shares that honor with Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Toyota Motor, and Johnson & Johnson.

Going deeper

“Who Gets Replaced by AI and Why?” is a report in Wharton’s business journal. New research from Wharton’s Pinar Yildirim explores how AI can impact employee motivation when it is implemented in the wrong part of a team’s workflow. The research addresses topics such as how managers should deploy AI capacity in teams and which positions are most vulnerable to being displaced by AI.

Overheard

“Working closely with David Ellison and this exceptional management team made the decision to resign from the board and jump in fully as CFO an easy one.” 

—Dennis K. Cinelli wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday regarding his appointment, effective Jan. 15, as CFO of Paramount, and his resignation from the company’s board. Most recently, Cinelli served as CFO of Scale AI, and he previously held senior finance and operational roles at Uber.