Financial executives, internal auditors, and compliance and risk teams are getting a whole lot savvier about how to reduce enterprise-wide risks these days, thanks in large part to forensic data analytics.

Collecting and analyzing data to reduce compliance, financial, and fraud risks is not a new concept, but historically it has been limited by archaic and time-consuming manual processes. That’s where advances in forensic data analytics—such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotic process automation—is changing the face of compliance, risk, and internal audit capabilities today.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...