The best way to speed up audits: AI assistants
Key takeaways
AI is now integral to many businesses for improving tasks such as internal audits and external audits
AI features and assistants have been known to speed up audit times, giving workers more time to focus on more meaningful work
AI assistants can automate various aspects of auditing, such as searching for data, creating and filling out forms, and more
In the last few years, AI has become part of everyday business operations. It’s no longer just a buzzword or a feature in new tech; it’s something teams are actively using to improve how work gets done.
Businesses, in particular, have started adopting more AI solutions to enhance their operations. A McKinsey study found that 88% of surveyed businesses report regular AI use now in at least one business function, compared to 78% a year ago.
However, many of these organizations are still in their pilot phases with AI. This means they’re still only experimenting with AI tools and have not yet fully integrated them into their daily workflows. Research from Exploding Topics supports this, showing most organizations today are more focused on exploring with AI, rather than embedding it into core processes.
But they shouldn’t stop at exploration—they should learn to deploy AI properly and integrate it into their daily tasks. When AI is properly and efficiently integrated into businesses, it can deliver great and measurable gains, especially with one of their most time-consuming tasks: auditing.
Why auditing takes so long
Before understanding how AI improves audit times, it’s important to understandwhyaudits take so long in the first place. Even with digital tools, many audit processes still rely heavily on human input at every stage. While it works, doing so creates bottlenecks, inconsistencies, and unnecessary administrative work.
Traditional audits often involve:
Manual data entry and management
Paper-based or static digital forms
Time-consuming evidence collection
Repetitive documentation and follow-ups
Lengthy report writing
In the end, auditors and frontline workers frequently spend more time documenting the audit than performing the actual inspection.
That’s not just inefficient, it’scostly.
And that’s exactly whythisis where you should introduce AI solutions.
How AI can reduce audit times
When used well, AI supports teams at every stage of the audit process. Here are some ways AI has been noted to benefit and improve audit times:
Automating repetitive tasks
Providing real-time recommendations
Generating summaries and reports
Identifying risks and patterns
Predicting potential issues
Assisting with corrective action planning
The result? Faster, smarter, and more actionable audits.
Take note: the right AI solution or assistive feature for your organization won’t replace leaders and auditors; rather, it aims tosupportthem. By reducing audit time, AI can greatly enhance existing processes by speeding up turnaround times, reducing repetitive workflows, and helping piece together fragmented operations.
A Verdantix study, “Future Of AI-Enabled EHS Software Solutions,” echoes this, specifically citing how the Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) industry has seen positive changes in their auditing procedures and completion times once AI was properly adopted. AI is also used to gain insights and interpret data into more palatable forms, making it easier for leaders to identify areas for improvement. From core operations to niche services, AI is seen helping improve the time it takes to do any work, anytime and anywhere.
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Key AI features that reduce the number of audits
Keeping up with audits is important—but constantly pulling teams off the floor to complete them isn’t sustainable. That’s where AI-powered features come in to reduce audit time in the following ways:
1. Instant audit form and checklist creation
Creating audit templates can be time-consuming, especially when teams have to reuse outdated forms, manually research standards to include in checklists, and customize different fields for various departments or users.
AI tools can help users create the right templates they need with simple prompts and by suggesting edits based on their wants and needs. An AI assistive feature can also provide edits you can implement on your forms based on past data.
2. Data and evidence management
During an audit, speed matters, and incomplete documentation often leads to delays later. AI assistants improve data collection by prompting auditors for missing information in real time, then recommending follow-up questions when risks are identified. AI tools can also help with searching for documents across different folders, clouds, and storage spaces. Together, these lead to reduced incomplete inspections and time-consuming revisions.
3. Real-time risk scoring and prioritization
Risk assessment is often subjective and time-intensive. When conducting it, auditors must assign severity levels, calculate risk scores, evaluate risk likelihood, and compare results and plans with company standards—all of which can last hours to days, sometimes even longer.
AI reduces this workload by:
Automating and calculating risk scores
Prioritizing findings based on its readings
Comparing results ot historical data
Identifying risks and creating solutions for them
Prompting follow-ups based on a set schedule
4. Instant report generation
One of the biggest time drains in auditing is writing the final report. Traditionally, this involves compiling notes, organizing evidence, writing summaries, and creating overviews. AI accelerates the reporting process by automatically generating summaries of key points and highlighting important risks and actions—all already formatted to your standards.
Finish audits sooner without sacrificing quality. For many teams, this is where the biggest time savings happen.
5. Data simplification and analysis tools
Reviewing past documents to identify trends can take days if done manually, which is where AI comes in. A great use for AI assistant tools is to analyze existing data, audits, and reports.
AI can analyze thousands of audit records in seconds to:
Identify recurring non-conformances
Detect patterns across locations
Highlight seasonal risks
Predict future compliance issues
This eliminates the need for manual spreadsheet analysis and accelerates strategic decision-making.
SafetyCulture’s AI Assist: coming soon
It can take time to find the right AI tool for your business, which is why many are often stuck in the testing phase more than the deployment one. Many solutions sit outside existing systems, which slows adoption and reduces interest.
Thus, the most effective AI tools are built directly into your operations platform. That’s where SafetyCulture’s upcoming AI Assist comes in.
The AI Assistant is designed to be users’ co-pilot in their everyday lives. It helps bring together the tools and information you need in one place, saving users time on searching, downloading, and clicking around features—speeding up any auditing taking place. It provides users a way to find answers, surface the right context, and take action directly in the platform.
Disclaimer: This is currently in Early Access and is not yet available to all users.
FAQs about AI and auditing
Important notice
The information contained in this article is general in nature and you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your specific needs. Legal and other matters referred to in this article are based on our interpretation of laws existing at the time and should not be relied on in place of professional advice. We are not responsible for the content of any site owned by a third party that may be linked to this article. SafetyCulture disclaims all liability (except for any liability which by law cannot be excluded) for any error, inaccuracy, or omission from the information contained in this article, any site linked to this article, and any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.
