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Most U.S. Internal Audit Teams Still Crunching Numbers on Cave Walls Compared to Their European, Asian Counterparts

Even this guy is like, “What are you guys doing?”

Read anything online and you’re likely to be told some variation of “The rapid pace of technology is disrupting X.” And since those words appear on the internet, adjacent to stock images of word clouds, or an illuminated light bulb, or a smug nerd with people clacking away on laptops in the background, you assume that the rapid pace of technology is disrupting X. If this technology is making some headway then, great; good for you, little disruptors!

But according to a Protiviti survey mentioned in this Wall Street Journal article, one little corner of the world that has managed to resist a fair amount of disrupting is American internal auditors.

U.S. companies are trailing their counterparts in Europe and Asia in the crucial task of integrating data analysis tools into the expanding role of internal auditors, according to a survey by management consulting firm Protiviti Inc.

“People are not moving at a pace of change that is responsive enough,” said Brian Christensen, executive vice president, global internal audit at the firm.

The survey found that 70 percent of Asian and 79 percent of European internal audit departments have “a dedicated data analytics function”; the U.S. came in at 40 percent. Christensen says, “Those who fail to integrate these initiatives risk becoming obsolete,” which sounds a lot like “DON’T MAKE US SEND IN THE ROBOTS.”

What gives, Internal Audit America? Are you warming your offices by campfire? Shall we send Emeril Lagasse in to bark “Kick it up a notch” every 15 minutes? Come on, this is embarrassing.

[WSJ]