There is widespread frustration with the impact of data analytics in internal audit functions, with 80% of chief audit executives wanting improved outcomes, according to a Gartner survey of 107 chief audit executives. The research found that data analytics materially improved audit outcomes only about half the time.

“CAEs feel pressure to get better value from their DA investments, both to meet growing stakeholder expectations and to secure further budget for continued technology investment and innovation,” said Tegan Gebert, vice-president, advisory in the Gartner assurance practice. “However, to get to greater value, CAEs have been focused on better motivating and preparing their teams to use DA wherever feasible, which isn’t the right way to improve outcomes.”

Many CAEs track the percentage of audits using data analytics as a key performance indicator and tend to rely on analytics wherever possible – even when not all analytic opportunities are worthwhile, Gebert warned.

“Once the obvious, high-impact opportunities are addressed, spreading analytics across every audit leads to wasted effort and diluted impact, and it likely puts a strain on the limited capacity of expert DA resources as well,” she said. “In contrast, when CAEs deliberately select fewer, high-impact audits and allocate more analytic resources to them, audit teams achieve deeper, more meaningful outcomes.”

Gartner recommends that CAEs take personal ownership of prioritising data analytics by evaluating audits not only for feasibility but for necessity and likely value. Using structured criteria – such as scorecards or qualitative filters – CAEs should rank projects by business impact, alignment with strategic goals and likelihood that analytics will yield actionable outcomes.

“Once high-impact opportunities are identified and prioritised, CAEs should concentrate analytic resources – such as skilled staff, data experts and advanced tools – on these select audits. This enables deeper analysis, higher quality insights and greater overall value,” Gebert added.

---