User Guide — Chief Audit Executive (CAE)
As the Chief Audit Executive, you are responsible for the overall audit program — planning, resource management, quality oversight, and board communication. This guide covers everything you need to do in AIIA.
Your Role in AIIA
The CAE has the highest-level internal audit access, with these primary responsibilities:
| Area | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Strategic Planning | Create and approve annual audit plans |
| Resource Management | Allocate auditors across engagements |
| Quality Oversight | Review and approve engagement reports |
| Board Reporting | Generate executive dashboards and board packs |
| AI Governance | Oversee AI usage and approve AI-generated content |
| Risk Oversight | Monitor enterprise risk through the Audit Universe |
Daily Workflow
Morning Routine
-
Open the AI Governance Hub (
/dashboard)- Review active engagement statuses
- Check overdue findings and action items
- Monitor KRI alerts
- Review AI activity summary
-
Check the Signoff Queue (
/signoff)- Approve or return pending reports
- Review engagement stage advancement requests
-
Review Notifications
- Escalated findings
- Resource conflicts
- QA review completions
Weekly Activities
| Day | Activity |
|---|---|
| Monday | Review engagement progress, address blockers |
| Wednesday | Approve completed reports, review AI suggestions |
| Friday | Update portfolio analytics, prepare status updates |
Key Tasks
1. Annual Planning
You own the annual audit plan:
- Navigate to Planning → + New Annual Plan
- Use AI Generate Plan Items for coverage-gap-based suggestions
- Review risk-based prioritization scores
- Assign lead auditors and set timelines
- Approve the plan to finalize
📖 See Annual Planning for full details.
2. Engagement Oversight
As CAE, you approve engagement creation and report issuance:
| Stage Transition | Your Action |
|---|---|
| Draft → Planned | Approve engagement scope |
| Review → Final | Approve final audit report |
| Final → Closed | Issue report and close engagement |
📖 See Engagements for full details.
3. Report Approval & Board Packs
You review and approve all audit reports before issuance:
- Navigate to Signoff → review pending reports
- Click Approve or Request Changes with comments
- For board reporting, navigate to Reports → Create Board Pack
- Select engagements to include
- AI generates an executive summary
- Export as branded PDF
📖 See Reporting for full details.
4. Executive Dashboard
Your executive dashboard shows:
- Audit plan completion percentage
- Finding severity distribution and trends
- Resource utilization across the team
- Compliance scorecard
- KRI status overview
📖 See Dashboards for full details.
5. AI Governance
As CAE, you oversee AI usage:
- Review AI interaction logs in Audit Logs
- Configure AI model providers in Administration → AI Models
- Set organizational AI policies
- Approve high-impact AI suggestions
📖 See AI Governance for full details.
Permissions Summary
You have full access to all modules. Key exclusive permissions:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
plan:approve | Approve annual audit plans |
report:approve | Approve audit reports for issuance |
engagement:close | Close and archive engagements |
user:manage | Manage user roles and permissions |
ai_model:configure | Configure AI providers |
Tips for Success
- Use the Data Agent — ask natural language questions like "What's our finding closure rate this quarter?"
- Leverage AI board packs — AI generates executive summaries saving hours of writing
- Monitor the risk heatmap — visual overview of your organization's risk landscape
- Set up KRI alerts — get notified of critical risk threshold breaches
- Review AI usage — periodically check the AI activity log to ensure appropriate use