Speaking of Risk and Audit

Richard Chambers interviews Guru Sethupathy, Optro's General Manager of AI Governance, on practical approaches to governing AI. Guru outlines the "three Ps" framework—policies, processes, people—and explains why rapid advances like agentic AI increase risks around performance, security, and transparency.

They discuss regulatory pressures, the need for orchestration and continuous monitoring, and how cross-functional collaboration and technology can enable effective AI governance across organizations.

On the day AuditBoard becomes Optro, CEO Raul Villar Jr. discusses the company’s rebrand, its AI-powered expansion across audit, risk, compliance, and infosec, and how a recent acquisition strengthens its leadership in AI governance.

He explains how the new identity supports international growth, preserves customer experience, and positions Optro to transform risk into opportunity with agentic systems of action.

Richard Chambers interviews Richard Penfill of PayPal about using data science and AI in internal audit, exploring how prompt libraries, AI agents, and a new concept called "swarm auditing" streamline analytics and testing.

The episode covers practical challenges (the "bridge tax"), governance and risk concerns, use cases for agent orchestration, and how AI will shift auditors toward judgment, ethics, and strategic oversight.

Richard Chambers interviews Margie Bastolla, an audit report–writing expert, trainer, and author, on effective audit reporting. They examine common reporting errors, including unclear effect statements and weak root-cause analysis, and discuss practical techniques to write reports that resonate with high-level readers.

Margie also discusses the role of AI as a research assistant, the importance of critical thinking, and trends toward shorter, more visual reporting that still prioritize a clear message.

In this episode Richard Chambers interviews Mike Peppers, Chief Audit Executive at the University of Texas System, about his decades-long career in internal audit—especially in higher education and public service—and his role leading the overhaul of the Global Internal Audit Standards.

They discuss the public-sector audit environment, the standards' new guidance for public-sector and small audit functions, the importance of governance, and practical steps for auditors to embrace emerging technologies like AI and ensure maximum impact by 2030.