Audit & Beyond 2025 | April Crichlow, AuditBoard & Jan Murry, Aerospace

Clips
More from Audit & Beyond 2025

April Crichlow

Chief Marketing Officer

AuditBoard

Jan Murry

Director, Internal Audit

GE Aerospace

play_circle_outline AI as an opportunity and challenge for organizations amid changing landscape.

play_circle_outline Importance of human intelligence in decision-making alongside AI automation.

play_circle_outline Empowering Leaders: Upskilling for Technological Change and Fostering Collaboration in Risk Management Across Teams

play_circle_outline Growth mindset and proactive ownership are key for rising stars in organizations.

Info
Transcript

April Crichlow, AuditBoard & Jan Murry, Aerospace

April Crichlow

Chief Marketing Officer AuditBoard

Jan Murry

Director, Internal Audit GE Aerospace

In this Audit & Beyond segment, theCUBE’s Rebecca Knight and Rob Strechay sit down with Jan Murry, director of internal audit at General Electric Aerospace, and April Crichlow, chief marketing officer at AuditBoard, to unpack how AI is reshaping risk and audit. Murry shares why teams are shifting from reactive to proactive and predictive risk management – and how breaking down silos with transparency, governance and modern tooling helps align to business outcomes. Crichlow underscores the enduring value of human judgment in the AI loop, noting findings from A... Read more

explore Keep Exploring

What significant global events and trends have influenced the auditing industry in the early 2020s, and what are the anticipated future developments for the second half of the decade? add

What is the significance of human intelligence in the current technological landscape, particularly in relation to AI and industry trends? add

What are the key challenges and best practices for upskilling people in organizations to manage risks and opportunities in a connected manner? add

What qualities and attitudes contribute to success in a business environment? add

bolt Powered by CUBE AI

April Crichlow, AuditBoard & Jan Murry, Aerospace

search

Rebecca Knight

>> Good afternoon, everyone and welcome back to theCUBE's Live coverage of AuditBoard's Audit & Beyond here in San Diego. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight, along with Rob Strechay, analyst. Rob, we know this to be true and yet it is just hammered home at this conference, is just how much AI is such an incredible opportunity and yet also represents such an enormous challenge for these organizations.

Rob Strechay

>> Absolutely. And I love that we're getting the end user perspective on this as well, because I think that's where the rubber meets the road.

Rebecca Knight

>> Indeed. Well, with that, I would like to introduce our new guest. For this segment we have Jan Murry, director, internal audit at GE Aerospace. Welcome, Jan.

Jan Murry

>> Thank you.

Rebecca Knight

>> And April Crichlow, chief Marketing Officer at AuditBoard.

April Crichlow

>> Thanks for having me.

Rebecca Knight

>> Thank you so much for coming on the show. So I'm going to start really just level setting for our viewers. A question for both of you, because over the first half of the 2020s, we've had a global pandemic, unprecedented geopolitical concerns and tensions and then of course, the emergence of AI. Talk a little bit about what you've seen in this moment in time, having had your careers in this industry and then what you think the future holds in terms of the next half of the 2020s. Jan, let's start with you.

Jan Murry

>> Yeah. So it's been fascinating. We have been so reactive over time that I'm excited. We're starting to see that shift and AI is going to be a true enabler for that on no longer reactive, but proactive and predictive on risk. And then the other piece of that that excites me is it's not just about risk. It's about opportunity as well and how we can serve our business partners better and I think AI is going to be a key enabler for that.

Rebecca Knight

>> And April, how about you?

April Crichlow

>> I think we're really in such a pivotal moment in our industry and it's such a once in a generation opportunity and a lot of our discussions with customers and with analysts and our partners is all about how human intelligence is going to be the differentiator. And we're really finding that while AI can automate, analyze process faster than any human ever could, that human intelligence and the leader's judgment, their expertise, their context is something that can never be replaced and we're seeing a lot of companies lean into that more. Our recent risk intelligence report found that 70% of companies are going to be investing in more risk professionals and 40% on cybersecurity professionals, I think which really speaks to the need for the human in the loop. So while it's a crazy time for technology, human beings and their context and creativity doesn't go away.

Rebecca Knight

>> Humans are not going anywhere.

April Crichlow

>> No. They're not going anywhere.

Rob Strechay

>> No. I think just kind of sticking with that direction, what have been some of the conversations that you've had with executives or boards? Because they have to have changed over the last couple of years. AI, you turn around and it went from last year was chatbots. This year's agentic.

April Crichlow

>> Yeah.

Jan Murry

>> .

April Crichlow

>> Who knows what next year's going to hold with it, but I think it'll continue to increase in complexity, which brings a lot of fear and what people see as risk. But starting with you, Jan.

Jan Murry

>> Yeah. I would say two key things. One is how do we upskill our people, including our senior leaders and our board to understand the risks and the opportunities associated with all the change, but then also how do we do it in a connected fashion, so that it's not everyone running as fast as they can in silos? And I think that has been a real challenge for a lot of companies, is how do we work together? Because for so long, risk management has been conducted in silos.

Rob Strechay

>> .

Rebecca Knight

>> Yeah. So what are some of the best practices that you learned along the way in terms of breaking down those silos and getting real collaboration?

Jan Murry

>> Yeah. Absolutely. Well, I think vulnerability is one. Just being transparent in the conversation that we don't have it figured out, but we need to come together to figure it out. And really getting everyone together, you're going to have people who aren't on board with the idea and that's okay. As you said, April, the human element is so critical to this and that's where we're seeing a fair amount of the resistance is, well, what does this mean for me and my role? But really working through collectively, how does that work? Start with your people and getting them on board. Then look at process. How do you govern that? What does that look like? And also thinking about technology, because we have to change our tools at the speed the world is moving in.

Rob Strechay

>> Yeah. And I was going to say I think when we've been talking so far today, AuditBoard had some really interesting data, looking at your survey and about AI had decreased by 30%, the enthusiasm for deploying. What have you seen and what have you or advice do you see for organizations who may be feeling stuck in their AI implementation?

April Crichlow

>> Yeah. Well, it's a great question and I think we have to remember that AI is our generation's greatest opportunity, but also has some of the sharpest governance that's coming and is here and coming our way. And we've seen a lot of CEOs and executives really moving from just AI implementation to AI governance. We did share some big news that we acquired a company today called FairNow to really glean into a gap that's in the market today around AI governance. And while there's a lot of pilots around AI and we did notice that drop in the risk intelligence report and I think it's because there isn't that sort of tie back to the governance piece. And so I think, again, it's this cognition around accepting the fact that we're in a new time, but there has to be the appropriate controls and governance and this is what AuditBoard is here to do. So we're advising a lot of our clients to really make sure they have a governance strategy.

Rebecca Knight

>> Yeah. So April, yesterday you led a Women in GRC Roundtable. What were some of the takeaways from that conversation?

April Crichlow

>> Yeah. So we know that CAEs, the balance between men and women is 47% women, 53% men and that's actually pretty good.

Rebecca Knight

>> That's not that bad.

April Crichlow

>> Yeah. That's good. I grew up in tech and it's more like a 70/30, but we had a hundred leaders and rising stars here at the conference and felt it was important to gather, to discuss authentic conversation. And the real themes around it was around making sure that you're your authentic self. How do you show up each day being who you are? Because that's the best way you can lead. How can you create a safe place for up-and-coming rising talent? And I know you guys do a lot of that as well at GE. And then how do we continue the conversation? Because it's not just about what's in the four walls of any discussion and we were so excited to see the reception and no one wanted to leave. So I feel like this is just more proof that we need to do more of this.

Rebecca Knight

>> Yeah. Well, what was striking to me, Jan, when you were talking about what are some of the best practices and the skills that are necessary in order to do this kind of work and you talked about vulnerability, you talked about collaboration, you talked about perspective-taking and these are typically the skillset probably that women are at least known for having more of than men. So it does seem as though the things that need to happen right now in terms of governance and risk in organizations all over, women are going to be needed to be at the table, because they can help these things along.

Jan Murry

>> Yeah. Absolutely. I actually attended the event yesterday and it was phenomenal. The chatter in the room, people didn't want to start talking. Just hearing people share their concerns or challenges so openly and freely, I don't think is something we do a lot of in the workplace, so it was very encouraging to hear that.

April Crichlow

>> Yes. It really was.

Rob Strechay

>> So again, being the only non-woman up here I guess .

April Crichlow

>> . You're welcome to come though next time.

Rob Strechay

>> No. But I'm an ally, so I do lean in and all that good stuff. Not to go down that route. But when you look at it from a mentorship perspective, and I know GE, very big on the mentorship and being able to, how do you see this helping to mentor in the broader technology industry from that perspective? Because like you said, it is definitely disparate in the rest of tech.

April Crichlow

>> Right.

Jan Murry

>> Yeah. Well, one of the things I've realized through my career is you got to lift as you climb. There's no better way to do it and you can't wait till you get to the top, because you're probably never going to reach the top. What does that even look like today? And so really pulling those people behind you and if that means you're mid-career, really grabbing those entry-level career employees and helping support them and sharing your experiences and your stories. But I think regardless of the industry, especially in tech, that's incredibly important just to share and have that open dialogue, transparency, humility to help bring others along.

Rebecca Knight

>> So April, I think CMO is a hard job, because you have to be able to translate the technical value of your platform and make it accessible and interesting and understandable to the broader population. How do you balance that communication? Because there's a real tricky balancing act.

April Crichlow

>> Yeah. No. Thanks for acknowledging that. No. I think at the end of the day, our North Star is how do we create value for customers like GE? And I think everything we do is looking at how does our innovation really drive a business transformation? So it's actually pretty simple when you take away all the messaging and the category design and looking at all the product roadmaps. The basic question we ask is how can we tell the story? How can we create value? How can we bring our customers along the way with us and really do that in a way that is simple and easy and helps them cross from where they are today to where they need to go? So I think that's, in a nutshell, how we like to think of it. And there's lots of details underneath that, but it's always the journey of where are you today and where does that business value need to go and how do we help you message that story internally and then both to their clients as well? So yeah.

Rob Strechay

>> So Jan, just circling back, GE Aerospace is everywhere. You're a worldwide company. You have a larger parent company. How has just the entire, I guess you could say risk portfolio, especially with there are just ever shifting geopolitical, there's tariffs, there's everything that's going on that you have to really... How do you help people understand when you're mentoring other people? Just even getting a way of thinking through and prioritizing, how do you help people understand that?

Jan Murry

>> Yeah. Absolutely. Well, we became a standalone public company a little over a year ago, which is very exciting, but with that, came its own set risks, as we're not part of a big conglomerate anymore. So your materiality, your level of risk, the way you may be targeted in the cyber incident changes. And so we've really had to pivot in how we think about that. And there's a number of ways we've done that. Really leaning into each other as risk management leaders I think is one thing that's been really important. And AuditBoard has actually been a catalyst for us in driving the conversation of what does this look like? How do we align on how we report and speak the same language? And then taking that to our leaders and understanding their strategic vision, because everything we're doing, risk and opportunity-wise, should really be tied into the broader company's initiatives. And so that's been a great way for us to get started. It's certainly a journey. I wouldn't say we've arrived, but continuous improvement is what we're all about.

April Crichlow

>> .

Rebecca Knight

>> So both of you, what is some advice that you would give for other emerging leaders, especially women who want to be the next Jan Murry and April Crichlows? What kinds of skills do you think they need to develop, schooling that they need to have had and what kind of experiences do you recommend? Jan?

Jan Murry

>> Yeah. Well, I would start and say don't start with a destination in mind, because generally, your career is a matrix. It goes and ebbs and flows, but look at what interests you, look at what excites you, where your passion lies and what skills do you need to acquire to move along that map. So I've found that really interesting. And then while you're in those roles, really thinking with the voice of the customer. Who is your customer? That could be your team. That could be your stakeholders. But making sure you understand those customer perspectives is something that I've found paramount. And then as a leader, humility is a skill that is very hard to learn, but I think as a leader, that makes you impactful to all of your customers. And so I would say that's one of the biggest skills I've learned along my journey.

Rebecca Knight

>> Impact for your customers, but also the people you're leading too.

Jan Murry

>> Yes. Absolutely.

April Crichlow

>> Yeah.

Rebecca Knight

>> April?

April Crichlow

>> I agree with everything you said. And I think it's really important, and I tell this to my team and rising stars all the time, that anything that you approach in business, it really has to be with a growth mind set. Things change around us all the time like we're talking about today. AI is changing. A lot of us don't know all the things that we need to know about AI. But if you have a growth mindset, if you have a learner attitude, if you know how to collaborate and be resourceful, I think that goes a long way. And I think the people that I continually see as rising stars and organizations are the ones that have that proactive growth mindset and embrace ownership as part of it. If you see a problem, if you see an area that needs fixing, don't wait for someone else to do it. Really jump in and take the ownership and take that leadership stance, because wherever there isn't a leader and a leader has to emerge and why couldn't it be you? So I coach my team on that a lot. And then on the flip side, for leaders, I think it's really important, and I mentioned it a little bit earlier around sponsorship, who is speaking on your behalf when you're not in the room? And I think a lot of times, I coach a lot of rising stars on find a mentor, find a coach, find your own personal board of directors that can be those advocates for you when you're not there. A big part of my career and being able to do the things I've been able to do has been from some tremendous executive leaders that saw the gold in me before I even did and said, "You can do this. You can step in and jump in and do it." And that was a lot of our theme yesterday as well. And especially in this industry, I think there's just so much pressure. There's a lot that risk professionals have to carry and so all the more that you should be in community and with some awesome mentors to do that. So that would be my advice.

Rebecca Knight

>> Terrific advice, so thank you both. This has been a really fascinating conversation.

Jan Murry

>> Yeah.

April Crichlow

>> Thank you.

Jan Murry

>> Thank you.

Rob Strechay

>> Thank you.

Rebecca Knight

>> I'm Rebecca Knight with Rob Strechay. Stay tuned for more of theCUBE's live coverage of Audit & Beyond. You're watching theCUBE, the leader in enterprise tech news and analysis.