4 strategies for future-proofing your internal audit team in a hypervolatile decade

The internal audit profession is entering a new era of extreme volatility – risks are intertwined, and AI is transforming everything. Optro’s annual ‘Focus on the Future’ survey highlights the key challenges facing internal audit leaders, from the AI readiness gap to ongoing resource constraints. This essential report, authored by Richard Chambers, provides four key strategic recommendations and defines the ‘superhuman’ capabilities your team needs to succeed as trusted advisers in the coming year.

Optro’s ‘Focus on the Future’ series has chronicled the evolution of internal audit through some of the most turbulent years in recent history.

Now, in 2026, the story continues in an environment aptly described by professionals as one of extreme volatility. Disruptions are not only ubiquitous; they are also accelerating, interdependent and mutually reinforcing. They present both risks and opportunities for an industry standing at a crossroads.

According to the annual ‘Focus on the Future’ survey¹ (n = 213 internal audit executives), the profession faces three concurrent pressures:

It is the convergence of these three pressures that presents unprecedented risks and uncertainties for the profession. The future of internal audit depends on how it reconciles these tensions. To succeed in times of extreme volatility, internal auditors must use AI as a capacity multiplier whilst placing greater emphasis on human judgement, courage and communication – the ‘superhuman’ capabilities that no algorithm can replace.

Download your copy of ‘Focus on the Future 2026: New Risks for Internal Audit in a Decade of Extreme Volatility’ to explore the findings in more detail and discover Richard Chambers’ four strategic imperatives for internal audit teams in the coming year.