As an internal auditor, I recently had the opportunity to participate in a steering committee alongside senior leaders from HR, Sales, IT, and Finance within the highly competitive FMCG sector. In such an environment, speed is critical. Stakeholders increasingly expect Internal Audit to provide timely assurance and risk insights that evolve in parallel with the business. Whether the discussion involves supply chain disruptions in Southeast Asia or rapid shifts in consumer e-commerce behavior, the expectation is that IA is already informed and prepared.
The core challenge, however, is not understanding the business risks themselves. For experienced auditors, assessing the impact of U.S. tariff policy changes or leadership transitions is part of the role. The real constraint lies in the time required to analyze large volumes of public disclosures and translate those insights into clear, board-ready materials. Synthesizing several years of financial filings and risk disclosures into a coherent narrative traditionally requires weeks of manual effort.
To address this gap, I have incorporated Google NotebookLM into my audit toolkit, using a publicly listed company as a case study to illustrate its application.
Strengths
NotebookLM enables rapid synthesis of complex documents such as annual and quarterly filings. It allows Internal Audit to quickly identify and trend risk shifts over time, for example, from pandemic-related operational risks to trade and geopolitical exposure. It can also support high-level analytical views, such as comparing regional revenue growth, which helps auditors prioritize focus areas based on risk and materiality.
Limitations
Professional judgment remains essential. The quality of outputs depends entirely on the quality of source documents. In addition, AI tools may struggle to capture qualitative factors such as organizational culture or leadership dynamics unless these are explicitly documented in source materials.
Conclusion
AI is not a substitute for professional skepticism or audit judgment. However, it is a powerful enabler for analysis, synthesis, and communication. When used appropriately, tools such as NotebookLM allow Internal Audit to shift from retrospective reporting toward a more forward-looking, strategic role. As an illustration of this capability, I have included a sample structure for a 15 pages board presentation analyzing a company’s 2025 financial and risk profile, developed using publicly available information.
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