New Study Identifies the Top Internal Audit Priorities for 2026
•January 28, 2026
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Why It Matters
As organizations face tighter resources and faster‑evolving risk landscapes, the ability of internal audit functions to adopt AI and advanced analytics will directly impact their relevance and effectiveness. Understanding the confidence gap and strategic focus areas helps audit leaders prioritize investments that deliver real value, making the episode essential for anyone tasked with modernizing audit practices in 2026.
New Study Identifies the Top Internal Audit Priorities for 2026
According to a new survey, more than 70 percent of chief audit executives say that building a culture of innovation in their teams and better leveraging data analytics and generative AI to support internal audit, are important or extremely important priorities in 2026.
The report, published by research and consulting firm, Gartner, also finds that those same respondents don’t have a high level of confidence that they will be able to create a tech-savvy culture in internal audit. Less than a third (31 percent) said they had either “high confidence” or “extremely high confidence” that they could accomplish that goal.
“CAEs are not just responding to change – they’re prioritizing it: positioning the audit function to be more innovative and deliver greater impact in 2026,” said Margaret Moore Porter, chief of research, in the Gartner Risk & Audit Practice. “However, the areas they are prioritizing are also those they lack confidence to address. CAEs will need an effective strategy and bold leadership to drive real change.”
According to a Gartner survey of 119 CAEs taken in August 2025, most CAEs’ top priorities in 2026 relate to technology. It is seen as a way to meet demands for expanded audit coverage and deliver greater value, especially as organizations face resource constraints and a rapidly changing risk environment (see Figure 1).
AI Adoption Rates in Internal Audit
“GenAI in particular is a creating excitement with most CAEs aiming to embed the technology in audit workflows in 2026,” said Porter. “Adoption of the technology in audit is well underway: 83 percent of audit functions are piloting or using AI, and another 12 percent plan to follow within the year.”
Gartner experts caution that while embedding AI in audit workflows is a strategic initiative that can enhance performance, it requires thoughtful planning, investment in skills development, and ongoing evaluation of use cases for value and technical feasibility to achieve its full potential.
“Enthusiasm for and adoption of AI do not guarantee better results or stronger audit department outcomes,” said Porter. “Progress in realizing the benefits of GenAI are often limited by issues such as poor data quality, lack of technical development skills, and in some cases access to the technology. This is reflected in the low levels of confidence CAEs have in achieving their AI objectives this year.”
However, audit functions that successfully overcome the challenges of AI adoption realize benefits, such as faster reporting cycles, accelerated anomaly detection, and adaptive risk assessment and monitoring solutions, enabling greater efficiency and a focus on strategic insights.
Optimizing Return on Data Analytics
Audit departments have invested significantly in data analytics, but many report they haven’t realized the expected performance gains from the technology.
“As we see with AI, data analytics outcomes are hampered by ongoing challenges with data quality, limited staff skills, and difficulties in identifying and implementing the most impactful use cases,” said Porter. “Rather than continuing to focus on increasing the broad use of analytics in their teams, what Gartner calls an ‘analytics everywhere approach’ CAEs are better served by focusing on and disproportionately resourcing targeted, high-value applications that align closely with business needs and can deliver measurable results.”
Among the few non-tech priorities this year that CAEs identified was “providing more thematic reporting on risk and controls issues to the audit committee and other stake holders.” Two-thirds (67 percent) of the CAEs survey by Gartner said that was priority for 2026. Yet, they again expressed concern about their ability to accomplish that goal. Only 41 percent said they were highly confident that they could improve on the area in the year ahead. 
Joseph McCafferty is editor and publisher of Internal Audit 360°
The post New Study Identifies the Top Internal Audit Priorities for 2026 appeared first on Internal Audit 360.
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