1. How would you describe the impact of AI on the Risk Management practice?

I think the impact of AI is yet to be fully felt as risk management practices are exploring what can be done. Entities are using AI to draft risk reports and compile other data and reduce the amount of admin that is done in the second line of defence. There are tools being pushed in the market that use AI to analyse data in GRC tools and clean up the data contained within them. However, the impacts are minor at the moment compared to what we expect to see in the next year or so.

2. What are the biggest challenges of AI driven Risk Management?

As with any new technology, the biggest challenge is getting people to change ways of working and embrace the change. There are some that are investing their time to learn how to use the tool and putting it to use. However, there are obviously risks associated with using AI and understanding what is permitted within the work environment is key. Companies are putting the governance and technology in place that will enable future AI activities to be performed safely. Assuming staff capabilities are in place and risks are being managed, the biggest challenge is to determine what is possible, not to just replicate more quickly what humans used to do, and focus on improving the quality of risk management in the business.

3. What are the future trends / opportunities for AI in the Risk Management practices?

Risk management functions should focus on defining what they can provide to the business to help them understand their risks and implement better controls. There will be phases of uplift, all of which can be supported by AI, starting with data quality, designing and documenting better controls, automation of controls and testing of them, and then moving to real-time analytics and proactive risk management. Reporting and dashboarding will be key to presenting the insights.

4. What advice would you give to the younger Risk Management cohort who are trying to upskill and stand out from the crowd?

AI is key to the future of risk management. Building on the basics will be key, and the more risk management practitioners understand what risk management is trying to achieve and try to solve how to provide those outcomes in entirely new ways, the more successful they will be.