The annual December event convened practitioners and scholars: auditors, compliance specialists, risk managers, corporate secretaries, as well as students, postgraduates, and representatives of academia.
This year's theme was ‘2025 Outcomes: Digital Technologies for Control, Audit, and Compliance to Achieve Effective Governance’.
Roman Kenigsberg, Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management Services at FBK, participated in the debates with a report on how to make business process automation truly effective.
In his speech, Roman argued that the key to success lies not in the technologies themselves, but in having a clearly defined purpose tied to the company’s objectives. Effective automation calls for mature processes, thorough risk assessment, and the involvement of control functions at every stage – from selecting an IT solution to monitoring its performance.
Special focus in his speech was placed on the role of auditors, risk, and compliance managers as guarantors of the sustainability of digital transformation. He presented a practical 10-step automation model, supported by measurable metrics—from return on investment (ROI) periods to data quality and user satisfaction levels.
The report also outlined key automation opportunities for control functions themselves: continuous auditing, process analysis based on process mining, digital twins, AI-assisted tools, and the robotic automation of routine operations.
In her report titled ‘Digital Transformation of Methods for Corporate Sustainability Reporting’, Elena Pertceva, Deputy Head of Corporate Governance & Sustainability Services at FBK, highlighted a primary challenge for Russian companies: ESG reports are still published with a significant delay, on average 60 days after financial statements, which undermines investor trust and complicates integrated management.
Elena attributed this to low automation, manual Excel-based data collection, undefined workflows, and ill-equipped IT systems for ESG metrics.
The expert proposed a solution: implementing targeted automated systems for ESG data collection and consolidation to accelerate report preparation time, lower error risks, and simplify audits. This is especially relevant in light of new Central Bank requirements: starting from 2026, issuers must test the XBRL 7.5.1.0 taxonomy, and from 2027, they will be required to disclose ESG data in a machine-readable format.
Elena Pertceva also dwelled on the role of artificial intelligence: 75% of companies already use AI for a number of tasks, including document processing, forecasting, and integration with ERP systems. However, the key challenge is managing AI risks: data inaccuracy (noted by 45% of respondents), cybersecurity (40%), and regulatory compliance.
In her report ‘Key Business Risks: 2025 vs. 2035’, Ekaterina Shishkina, Head of FBK’s Assurance & Advisory to Financial Institutions Practice, presented preliminary results of an FBK survey where respondents, predominantly representatives of control functions within the financial sector, assessed both current and long-term threats.
The key finding of the survey: cybersecurity remains the undisputed leader among operational concerns—highlighted by the vast majority of first-wave study respondents and 91.7% of conference participants. However, in day-to-day operations, it is not cybersecurity that firms spend more resources on, but regulatory compliance – despite the forecast that this risk will significantly lower over the next 10 years.
Ekaterina Shishkina also paid special attention to future technological challenges: big data processing, IT infrastructure development, and, particularly, risks associated with AI implementation. Their significance is expected to grow substantially over a 10-year horizon, which was supported by the attendees of the event
In her speech, Ekaterina also contrasted Russian agenda with global trends: from World Economic Forum reports to studies by The Institute of Internal Auditors, emphasizing the current need to transition from reactive to predictive risk management.
The reports are available via the link.
