Speaking of Risk and Audit

Agentic AI Rewrites SOX Testing

Richard Chambers sits down with Kieran Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Midship, to discuss Midship's acquisition by Optro and their agentic AI that reduces SOX testing from 16 hours to under 15 minutes. They cover how the autonomous testing engine integrates with Optro, preserves Excel workflows, produces auditable evidence, and automates up to 85% of SOX controls—especially ITGCs. The episode also explores where human judgment will remain essential, how auditors should prepare for ad hoc testing and managing AI agents, and what the future of internal audit looks like as agentic AI scales across the profession.

Governing AI at Speed: Policies, Processes & People

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.

Optro Unveiled: Rebranding for an AI-Driven GRC future

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.

How AI Agents are transforming internal audit

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.

Audit Reports that drive action

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.