Assessing the Impact of Digitalization on Internal Auditing Function

Over the past decades, the business environment has become increasingly digitized. Advances in new technologies are driving significant organizational change. Over the years, the internal audit as a governance actor, has adapted to meet the demands of the evolving business environment, and its role in consulting activities has been a significant topic of debate in the literature. This research aims to study the impact of the digitalization of organizations on the internal audit function. The method used to achieve this goal is a survey conducted with 175 internal auditors and managers working for companies in various sectors. The results indicate the existence of a positive relationship between the level of digitalization of the organization and the diversion of risks. This requires greater agility on the part of internal audit, through strengthening the digital skills of auditors, particularly in data analysis, to meet the needs of different stakeholders. The results also indicate that the level of digitalization of the organization has an indirect effect on the level of integration of consulting missions in the internal audit plan, a new role that internal audit is developing to support added value.