Collaboration Without Compromise: Practitioner Perspectives on Internal Audit, Risk Management, and Governance Practices
Risk, governance, and assurance activities are evolving as organizations seek greater connectedness, coordination, and insight across the second and third lines. As expectations for collaboration, and strategic contribution increase, internal audit is increasingly positioned to work more closely with other risk-related functions in ways that extend beyond traditional assurance.
Three forces are accelerating this shift in how second- and third-line activities interact:
- Rising demand for connected risk and control information that supports enterprise and operational decision making.
- Increased coordination across risk, compliance, and assurance activities to reduce duplication and strengthen organizational value.
- Expanding opportunities for internal audit to contribute insight through clearer role alignment, shared processes, and more deliberate collaboration.
The findings in this report highlight how organizations are responding to these dynamics in practice. Drawing on insights from more than 3,000 internal audit and risk professionals worldwide, the research examines how roles and responsibilities are evolving across the second and third lines, where collaboration is creating value, and how internal audit leaders are positioning their functions to deliver greater strategic impact.
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