Artificial intelligence in auditing: revolution or risk?

Artificial intelligence in auditing: revolution or risk?

On August 13, 2025, the University of Duisburg-Essen announces the upcoming 2nd International Conference on Auditing and Artificial Intelligence, which will take place at the university from August 20 to 22. This conference brings together around 190 participants from different countries such as Japan, the USA and Germany to shed light on the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on auditing. Auditory auditing includes a systematic process for checking economic processes, data and reports for accuracy and compliance with regulations.

The event is organized by the university's Mercator Audit & Artificial Intelligence Research Center (MAARC) and led by Prof. Dr. Marc Eulerich directed. The main topics include the practical use of AI, regulatory aspects and the change in job profiles in the industry. Further information and the program are available on the MAARC website: MAARC.

Growing influence of AI in final examinations

The discussion about the use of AI in final audits is becoming increasingly important. According to a recent survey, 75 percent of respondents believe AI is relevant in this process, an increase of 13 percentage points compared to the previous year. However, only 11 percent of survey participants say that AI has already advanced the final audit to a moderate extent. This shows that while interest in AI is growing, actual implementation is lagging behind expectations.

Currently, 27 percent of companies use AI to automate financial statement audits. Additionally, 22 percent of respondents are actively transforming their finance function using AI. Among companies planning to use AI in the future, 30 percent intend to use existing AI solutions, while only 4 percent want to develop an AI application themselves. These numbers suggest that there is still a lot of development work to be done regarding the use of AI in the audit area, such as PwC presented in his analysis.

Industry-specific advances and challenges

Significant progress in the implementation of AI is already being observed, particularly in the telecommunications and technology industries. Here, 41 percent of companies use AI in financial reporting. In comparison, companies in the energy, chemical and healthcare sectors lag behind, where usage is limited to 35 and 31 percent. 26 percent of consumer goods and retail companies also use AI.

The speed of AI adoption is heavily influenced by company size and shape. Large and publicly traded companies are more advanced in their use of AI than smaller, privately held companies, in part due to public interest in large companies. Nevertheless, many companies face major hurdles. Data protection and security are a key concern for 59 percent, followed by a lack of know-how (56 percent) and insufficient funding (49 percent). Additionally, 54 percent of companies express concerns about the accuracy of results, further complicating the implementation of AI. KPMG recommends that companies seek expert advice to address these challenges, according to a report by KPMG is executed.