Ep 259: What It Really Takes to Modernize Internal Audit w/ Ronnie Welch
This week on The Audit Podcast, our guest is Ronnie Welch, Chief Audit Executive at Guardian Life. Ronnie has spent his career in insurance audit, with experience at MetLife, Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, and several Big Four firms. In this episode, Ronnie talks about how he’s modernizing internal audit and shares the practical steps his team has taken at Guardian Life. He explains his three-tier analytics system, which helps his 48-person audit team work more efficiently and make a bigger impact. Listeners will come away with clear, actionable ideas for strengthening their own audit teams—no matter the size. We also highlight Ronnie’s achievement of winning Guardian Life’s CEO Award nearly ten years before stepping into his current role, showing the dedication and leadership that have defined his career. Be sure to connect with Ronnie on LinkedIn. Also, be sure to follow us on our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. Also be sure to sign up for The Audit Podcast newsletter and to check the full video interview on The Audit Podcast YouTube channel. Timecodes: 1:06 – How Ronnie Uses LLMs 4:38 – Agent Outsourcing 10:04 – Innovating the Team’s Knowledge of AI 15:17 – Who Is Internal Audit’s Customer? Let’s Serve Them 18:20 – Training for Soft Skills 20:45 – Getting the Entire Team to a Basic Analytics Level 27:12 – Tweaks Made to the Three-Tier System Along the Way 30:13 – Ronnie Wins the CEO Award 32:42 – IIA Vision 2035 33:53 – Final Thoughts * This podcast is brought to you by Greenskies Analytics, the services firm that helps auditors leap-frog up the analytics maturity model. Their approach for launching audit analytics programs with a series of proven quick-win analytics will guarantee the results worthy of the analytics hype. Whether your audit team needs a data strategy, methodology, governance, literacy, or anything else related to audit and analytics, schedule time with Greenskies Analytics.
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IA on AI – Dealing with Unmanageable Expectations of AI within your Company
Be sure to follow us on our social media accounts on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-audit-podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theauditpodcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theauditpodcast?lang=en Also be sure to sign up for The Audit Podcast newsletter and to check the full video interview on The Audit Podcast YouTube channel. * This podcast is brought to you by Greenskies Analytics. the services firm that helps auditors leapfrog up the analytics maturity model. Their approach for launching audit analytics programs with a series of proven quick-win analytics will guarantee the results worthy of the analytics hype. Whether your audit team needs a data strategy, methodology, governance, literacy, or anything else related to audit and analytics, schedule time with Greenskies Analytics.
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26:43
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26:43
Ep 258: Bringing Audit Data to Life with Visualizations w/ Valerie Ann Zappia (Victoria’s Secret)
This week on The Audit Podcast, we’re joined by Valerie Zappia, Internal Audit Data Analytics Manager at Victoria’s Secret. In this episode, she takes the opportunity to address those unanswered questions and share her perspective on the challenges many audit teams are facing today. She discusses the realities of managing data availability and quality issues, how to navigate the ever-present debate around selecting tools, and what she’s doing to upskill non-data auditors on her team. Valerie also shares her thoughts on how internal audit can better align analytics work with the broader strategy and priorities of the organization. Be sure to connect with Valerie on LinkedIn. Also, be sure to follow us on our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. Also be sure to sign up for The Audit Podcast newsletter and to check the full video interview on The Audit Podcast YouTube channel. Timecodes: 1:31 – Tackling data acquisition challenges 6:44 – Choosing the right tools with insights from a data analytics expert 11:55 – Building data literacy among non-auditors 17:12 – Securing buy-in from stakeholders outside internal audit 25:24 – Final thoughts * This podcast is brought to you by Greenskies Analytics, the services firm that helps auditors leap-frog up the analytics maturity model. Their approach for launching audit analytics programs with a series of proven quick-win analytics will guarantee the results worthy of the analytics hype. Whether your audit team needs a data strategy, methodology, governance, literacy, or anything else related to audit and analytics, schedule time with Greenskies Analytics.
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28:09
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Ep 257: Why Public Sector Projects Fail w/ Matthew Oleniuk
This week on The Audit Podcast, we’re joined by Matthew Oleniuk, founder of The Risk Insider and former Chief Audit Executive in the public sector. Matthew shares lessons from 15 years as a CAE, what he’s most passionate about right now, and his perspective on how to predict whether public sector projects will succeed—or fail. Be sure to connect with Matthew on LinkedIn. Also, be sure to follow us on our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. Also be sure to sign up for The Audit Podcast newsletter and to check the full video interview on The Audit Podcast YouTube channel. Timecodes: 2:20 – How Matthew Uses LLMs 5:28 – Advice for CAE Leaders 11:20 – The Dynamics of Building an Audit Committee 15: 35 – The Mindset of Empowering the Team 25:03 – What Matthew Is Especially Passionate About Right Now 29:17 – Why Public Sector Projects Fail 33:21 - Final Thoughts * This podcast is brought to you by Greenskies Analytics, the services firm that helps auditors leap-frog up the analytics maturity model. Their approach for launching audit analytics programs with a series of proven quick-win analytics will guarantee the results worthy of the analytics hype. Whether your audit team needs a data strategy, methodology, governance, literacy, or anything else related to audit and analytics, schedule time with Greenskies Analytics.
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IA on AI – Injected AI Bots and The Rise of Orphan Agents
Links: 2025 Audit Analytics and AI Conference United Airlines AI bot injected because it kept refusing to connect with a human The rise of orphan agents: autonomy without control Be sure to follow us on our social media accounts on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-audit-podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theauditpodcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theauditpodcast?lang=en Also be sure to sign up for The Audit Podcast newsletter and to check the full video interview on The Audit Podcast YouTube channel. * This podcast is brought to you by Greenskies Analytics. the services firm that helps auditors leapfrog up the analytics maturity model. Their approach for launching audit analytics programs with a series of proven quick-win analytics will guarantee the results worthy of the analytics hype. Whether your audit team needs a data strategy, methodology, governance, literacy, or anything else related to audit and analytics, schedule time with Greenskies Analytics.
On the show you can expect to hear from everyone: from the intern, to the IT audit director, CAE and audit committee members because all of their opinions are important.
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Brasil