India Inc Adopts Real - Time Audits Amid Rising Fraud Risks and AI Expansion

Many Indian companies are changing how they do internal audits. This is happening because fraud cases are increasing and businesses are using more digital systems and artificial intelligence.

Recent fraud incidents at companies like IndusInd Bank and Gensol have shown that old audit methods often find problems too late .

Earlier, audits were done only once in a few months and checked only some samples. This is not enough today because companies now deal with huge amounts of data every day. They also use many connected systems like ERPs, CRMs and cloud platforms, which makes it harder to monitor everything .

Because of this, many businesses are adopting Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM). This method uses technology to check controls and transactions all the time, instead of only at fixed intervals. Experts compare this shift to switching from a yearly health check-up to wearing a fitness tracker that monitors your health every day.

Sunil Bhadu of PwC told ET that companies need real-time internal audits because the old system is not agile enough. Ritesh Tiwari of KPMG says CCM helps companies move from reactive to proactive risk management. He advises clients not to try to solve everything at once but to start with the 20% of areas that carry 80% of the risk.

Consulting firms like PwC, KPMG and Deloitte say they are already helping several organisations implement real-time monitoring and digital audit tools. Some companies are even updating their internal audit roadmaps to include AI-driven analytics, cybersecurity monitoring. Automated controls and digital skills training for audit teams

According to experts, the results of these new systems are not immediate. It usually takes a few quarters for companies to see clear benefits, such as fewer control failures and faster detection of suspicious activity.

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