A surge of artificial intelligence-based automation is changing how risk and compliance teams work. The pitch for this AI-streamlined governance philosophy is simple: Put machines on the grunt work so people can judge, decide and move faster than before. 

At Audit & Beyond, AuditBoard Inc. showcased how it will apply AI across assurance to cut toil. The landscape is now crowded with new rules and rising documentation loads that slow decisions and raise costs. But the company’s goal is to keep people in charge while machines assist, according to Rob Strechay (pictured, right), managing director and principal analyst of theCUBE Research.

“The thing that stood out to me with them this morning was three pillars,” he said. “AI-powered assurance, AI powered GRC ecosystem — or governance, regulation and compliance — and then AI-powered insights,” he said. “They were very big on not AI, not replacing people, but ‘How do you get all of the toil out of doing that?’”

Strechay and host Rebecca Knight (left) delivered a keynote analysis at Audit & Beyond, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed AuditBoard’s recent announcements and AI’s role in the greater GRC ecosystem. (* Disclosure below.) 

The goals of AI-streamlined governance

At Audit & Beyond, AuditBoard noted it works with about half of the Fortune 500, a sign that scale matters when rules shift in many countries at once. That reach, paired with a trusted knowledge library and a platform-wide assistant, is meant to turn regulatory drift into structured workflows, according to Rebecca Knight.

“The messaging is very much: We are going to take AI, but technology is not the hero,” she said. “The human is the hero; technology is the amplifier.”

On the technical side, AuditBoard described automating evidence collection, pre-filling control tests and tying scenario planning to frameworks such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. For teams on the ground, AuditBoard’s announcements hope to speed decisions while reducing compliance drag, according to Strechay.

“I’ve had to go through the compliance risk and then put all the controls and compliance in place,” he said. “When you start to look at those controls and assurance and risk … it becomes really tough. I think this is where [machine learning] and AI really can help out. It’s more than just a chatbot.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Audit & Beyond event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Audit & Beyond event. Neither AuditBoard, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE