Beyond silos: Collaborating across risk and internal audit to tackle interconnected risk

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In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, recognizing the interconnectedness of risks and understanding their impact on the organization are more critical than ever. Successfully managing these relationships enhances organizational resilience and performance. Achieving this, however, depends on strong collaboration among key risk functions such as internal audit, enterprise risk management (ERM), compliance, cybersecurity, legal, and others.

In the recent webcast titled “Connected Risk – The Interconnection Between Risk and Internal Audit,” we continued our KPMG On the CAE Agenda Knowledge Cast series. We brought together industry experts who provided valuable insights into the evolving meaning of “connected risk.”

The discussion emphasized that this concept can be viewed through two distinct yet interdependent dimensions: one focuses on the interrelationships between different types of risks—how one risk can trigger or amplify others—while the other highlights the need for strong, coordinated, and collaborative response by risk and internal audit functions. Importantly, the effective management of interconnected risks often relies on the strength of cross-functional partnerships among these key risk functions.

Only 27%

Of professionals believe that interconnected risks management in their organizations is mature and effective

Nearly 40%

Of professionals believe that the biggest challenge in managing interconnected risks within the organization is the lack of integrated systems and risk data sharing

Over 60%

Of professionals believe that risk interconnectivity is especially critical in operational areas such as IT and cybersecurity, where complex dependencies heighten the potential for cascading impact