How a Bank Used AI to Identify Gaps Before Internal Audits

The Challenge

Ahead of an internal audit, a bank’s internal audit, quality and compliance teams, together with process owners, needed to confirm that the processes in scope were ready for review. That meant checking that required documents were in place, that previous actions had been closed and that procedures were up to date. Each process could involve its own documents, earlier actions and control records, so these checks were detailed and took time.

In practice, much of this checking happened close to the audit. Missing documents, open actions or outdated procedures were sometimes discovered at the last minute, leaving little time to address them before the audit. Without a prioritised view of what was outstanding, it was also harder for process owners to know where to start.

The Solution

With cognipeer Studio, our team configured an AI-assisted audit preparation workflow. It used the processes within the audit scope and the list of required documents as its reference, then scanned existing documents, previous actions and control records against that reference. This gave the bank a consistent way to compare what was in place with what the audit would expect.

Missing or risky areas were flagged in advance rather than at the end of preparation. Process owners received a preparation list with prioritised suggestions for completing what was outstanding. Closing each gap was their responsibility, and the internal audit team retained ownership of the audit itself.

Implementation

1. Defined the audit reference. We set out the processes within the audit scope and the list of documents required for each of them.
2. Configured document and record scanning. The AI workflow reviewed existing documents, previous actions and control records against that reference.
3. Flagged gaps and risk areas. Missing documents, open actions and other risky areas were marked early, while there was still time to address them.
4. Delivered prioritised preparation lists. Process owners received a preparation list with completion suggestions in order of priority, so they could focus on the most important gaps first.

Business Impact

Audit preparation became more organised and less dependent on last-minute checks. Gaps came to light earlier, giving process owners time to close them and giving internal audit, quality and compliance teams a clearer view of where each process stood before the audit began. Preparation followed the same reference for every process in scope, which made progress easier to follow across teams.

• Faster audit preparation across the processes in scope.
• Earlier closure of gaps in documents and actions.
• Better visibility of compliance and quality status before the audit.
• Clearer priorities for process owners through structured preparation lists.

Technology Behind the Solution