improve™ 2.0 — The Agile Operating Model of High-Impact Internal Audit
The operating model that turns internal audit from a fixed annual plan into a continuous, AI-augmented assurance flywheel — sensing risk in real time, delivering in sprints, and compounding insight cycle after cycle to maximise the impact of every audit.
Six nodes, one continuous assurance cycle
improve™ 2.0 reimagines internal audit as a continuous, AI-augmented assurance cycle: six working nodes turning around a central AI engine, so value flows from sensing risk, through sprint delivery, to always-on insight — then back into the backlog, and each cycle compounds the last. Tap any node to see what it does, where AI assists, and what it produces.
Audit Backlog
The living plan that retires the annual audit plan.
Tap to flip →A living, prioritised backlog of audits and value propositions — owned by IA — replacing the fixed annual audit plan.
AI — clusters risk signals and surfaces candidate value items.
Activities- Capture value propositions from stakeholders, ERM and prior cycles
- Score and rank each item by value and risk impact
- Refine and re-prioritise continuously
- Living value backlog
- Prioritisation rationale
Risk Sensing
Always-on risk and horizon scanning.
Tap to flip →Real-time, dynamic risk and horizon scanning, connected to ERM and the second line, continuously refreshing the audit backlog.
AI — scans data, controls and external signals for emerging risk.
Activities- Monitor data, controls and external signals
- Connect to ERM and second-line monitoring
- Flag emerging domains — cyber, AI, resilience, ESG
- Dynamic risk picture
- Emerging-risk alerts
Sprint Iterations
Time-boxed audits, pulled by value.
Tap to flip →Time-boxed audit sprints with defined outcomes, pulling the next highest-value engagements from the backlog.
AI — agentic testing and evidence review accelerate fieldwork.
Activities- Pull the highest-value audits into the sprint
- Plan, test and gather audit evidence
- Daily stand-ups and blocker removal
- Sprint assurance results
- Workpapers & evidence
Improvements Register
Findings captured as the work happens.
Tap to flip →A living record of audit findings, issues and control enhancements captured as fieldwork happens.
AI — drafts findings and links them to the right controls.
Activities- Log findings and root causes in real time
- Link issues to controls and risks
- Track remediation owners and dates
- Improvements register
- Remediation tracker
Continuous Insight
Always-on dashboards, board-ready insight.
Tap to flip →Always-on dashboards and audience-ready insight, alongside periodic board reporting and an annual opinion.
AI — generates dashboards and narrative on demand.
Activities- Maintain live assurance dashboards
- Tailor insight to each audience
- Produce board reporting and the annual opinion
- Assurance dashboards
- Board report & annual opinion
Retrospective
Close the cycle; feed the lessons back.
Tap to flip →One review-and-learn ceremony that closes each cycle and feeds lessons straight back into the Value Backlog.
AI — mines patterns across cycles to sharpen the backlog.
Activities- Review value delivered and what carried over
- Run a blameless retrospective
- Feed improvements into the backlog and the process
- Retro actions
- Process improvements
Four guardrails that keep it assured
Speed never comes at the cost of independence or quality. Four guardrails hold the operating model to the standards the board relies on.
Independence & Objectivity
IA owns the backlog and the opinion. Collaboration with the business informs the work — it never lets management own the plan.
Risk-Universe Coverage
Value-led prioritisation sits on top of guaranteed coverage of mandatory, regulatory and top enterprise risks. Nothing required gets crowded out.
Quality & Conformance
Iterative work still meets workpaper, evidence and QAIP standards — including a human validating every AI-assisted conclusion — ready for external scrutiny.
Board Assurance
Continuous dashboards are complemented by periodic reporting, escalation of significant issues, and an annual internal audit opinion to the committee.
Roles & cadence
Clear ownership and a steady rhythm turn the model from a diagram into a way of working.
Where high-impact audit is heading
The operating model is built to absorb what comes next — more autonomy, broader coverage, and assurance that is continuous by default.
Audit WITH AI
Agentic continuous testing, evidence review and drafting accelerate the engine and every sprint.
Assurance OVER AI
Model, agent and AI-governance risk become a permanent — and fast-growing — domain in the backlog.
Connected assurance
Wired into ERM and the second line so risk is sensed dynamically and work is never duplicated.
Talent & capability
Growth Mindset with teeth: T-shaped auditors, AI literacy, and a product-owner for the backlog.
Standards-aligned
Mapped to the IIA's 2024 Global Internal Audit Standards — conformant, not experimental.