Published on September 11, 2026
The eleventh Tata Internal Audit Forum, hosted by Trent on August 21, 2026, brought together 40 professionals from 22 Tata companies to discuss how AI is transforming Internal Audit from a compliance function to a strategic partner driving value, resilience and performance.
P Venkatesalu, Managing Director & CEO, Trent, urged auditors to move beyond identifying gaps to driving business improvement through technology, innovation and data-driven insights. Sessions on AI, advanced analytics, cybersecurity and AI governance highlighted how continuous monitoring, intelligent risk identification and full-population testing are enhancing audit effectiveness while retaining the critical role of professional judgement.
The forum featured insightful sessions by:
- Rohit Beria, Founder, Bytemint; and Anissha Khanna, Co-Founder, Bytemint, who conducted an interactive workshop on AI, Agentic AI and practical applications of Microsoft Copilot and AI agents for Internal Audit. They demonstrated practical applications for automating routine audit activities, improving productivity and generating actionable insights. Participants explored real-world use cases spanning audit planning, issue tracking, follow-up management and knowledge retrieval, highlighting how AI can enhance both efficiency and audit quality.
- Dr Uttam Kumar, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) & Data Protection Officer (DPO), Tata Digital, who shared perspectives on cybersecurity, AI governance, cyber resilience and emerging technology risks in an AI-enabled business environment.
- Vinay Garodia, Partner, Forensic & Integrity Services, EY India; along with Swapnil Sule, Director, EY India; and Prakash D Kamath, Director, Forensic & Integrity Services, EY India, who demonstrated how advanced analytics, document analytics and technology-enabled investigations are strengthening fraud detection and audit effectiveness.
- Sanjeev Singh, Head, Tata Business Excellence Group (TBExG), commended members for implementing learnings from previous forums, emphasising that the true measure of success lies not in the number of sessions conducted, the quality of speakers or the number of participants attending, but in the implementation of ideas and learnings shared through the forum.
He also shared that across the first 10 editions of the Tata Internal Audit Forum, 10 implementations have been inspired by ideas, practices and discussions originating from the forum. Particularly encouraging was the momentum in FY26, during which five implementations were reported, demonstrating the commitment of the Internal Audit community to translating cross-company learning into tangible outcomes.
The forum recognised the following Internal Audit leaders for successfully implementing ideas, practices and learnings shared through the Tata Internal Audit Forum:
- Mrunal Pitkar, Head of Internal Audit, Tata International, for developing an in-house Internal audit observation tracking tool by leveraging learnings and technical guidance shared through the forum.
- Aseem Mittal, Head of Internal Audit, Tata AutoComp Systems, for implementing an AI-based audit analytics platform inspired by successful practices within the Tata Group.
- Barun Mukherjee, Head of Internal Audit, Tata Steel Downstream Products, for implementing an audit management system inspired by practices shared within the Tata ecosystem.
- Hiral Shah, Head of Internal Audit, Tata Starbucks, for adopting leading audit practices and strengthening the Internal Audit function through cross-company benchmarking and learning.
- Sutida Kanchan, Senior Department Manager - Internal Audit, Tata Steel (Thailand), for incorporating forum learnings into audit planning, updating the Internal Audit Charter in line with the latest global internal audit standards, and initiating plans to adopt an audit management system.
The forum also recognised Sujit Dixit, Head of Internal Audit, Tata Technologies, and Sivaram Subramoniam, Head of Internal Audit, Titan Company for generously sharing their experiences, solutions and implementation journeys, enabling several Tata companies to adopt and successfully implement similar practices.
These examples reflect the true spirit of the Tata Internal Audit Forum. When one Tata company develops a successful practice and openly shares it, and another company adopts, adapts and scales it, the entire Tata Group benefits. Knowledge sharing becomes organisational capability, and individual innovation translates into collective progress. While these achievements are encouraging, members acknowledged the significant opportunity to further accelerate the adoption and implementation of ideas emerging from future forums.
The forum also felicitated Ratul Neogi, Head - Internal Audit & Business Excellence, Trent, ahead of his superannuation in September 2026. In his farewell address, he called on future Internal Auditors to combine business acumen, analytics, AI, cybersecurity awareness and collaboration to become trusted advisors capable of driving meaningful business impact.
The next Tata Internal Audit Forum is scheduled for November 22-23, 2026, at Tata Steel, in Jamshedpur.