As part of our work at World of Auditing, we closely follow developments in the wider auditing profession, including financial and internal audit. The report “Preparing for the Next Generation of Internal Audit Talent” provides a valuable external perspective and offers several insights that are highly relevant for reflection within the food safety auditing community.
What emerges in this document is not simply a call to modernize training programs or recruitment strategies, but a deeper question: what kind of auditor does the future of food safety actually require?
From Technical Executor to Strategic Actor
One of the central messages of the report is that automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the traditional way of auditing. This shift has major implications also for food safety auditing. Much of today’s audit practice is still grounded in procedural verification: checking records, verifying CCP monitoring, and confirming compliance with predefined schemes. If data extraction and pattern detection become automated, the auditor’s role will move further toward interpretation, judgment, and risk translation.
For food safety auditors, this suggests a move away from being primarily checklist interpreters toward becoming risk translators, professionals who can explain what microbiological trends, process deviations, or supplier weaknesses actually mean for brand protection, business continuity, and consumer trust.
The Skills Gap Is Not Just Technical
The report highlights six future-critical capabilities for auditors: technological agility, adaptability, strategic thinking, business acumen, an innovative mindset, and multidisciplinary expertise. Most of them are cognitive and relational.
Food safety auditing already struggles with this balance. Technical knowledge (HACCP, microbiology, food chemistry) remains essential but is no longer sufficient on its own. Auditors increasingly face complex systems: global supply chains, remote assessments, digital traceability platforms, and evolving regulatory landscapes.
Strategic thinking in this context means understanding how food safety risks intersect with procurement strategy, sustainability goals, and crisis management. Multidisciplinary expertise means being able to converse not only with quality managers but also with engineers, data analysts, procurement leaders, and even marketing teams.
The profession, therefore, faces a paradox: as technology handles more data tasks, the human auditor must become more conceptual, more communicative, and more system-oriented.
Generational Change: Opportunity, Not Threat
The report’s exploration of Generation Z and Generation Alpha provides an important counter-narrative to the common complaint that “young auditors lack discipline.” These generations value purpose, flexibility, autonomy, and meaningful work. They are also digital natives, accustomed to AI-driven tools and rapid feedback loops.
Food safety auditing has traditionally been positioned as a control function, protecting compliance and preventing failure. Yet for younger professionals, purpose is often linked to impact. This creates a powerful opportunity: food safety auditing can be reframed as a profession that protects public health, prevents harm, and sustains trust in food systems.
However, this requires a shift in narrative. If auditing continues to be presented as repetitive, rule-based, and reactive, it will struggle to attract talent. The report shows that one of the biggest barriers to internal audit as a career is simply that students do not understand what auditors actually do, and many perceive the job as boring.
Food safety auditing faces the same challenge. Many potential recruits encounter it only through certification requirements, not through its broader role within the system. This suggests that the profession must learn to tell its own story better, not as inspectors of paperwork, but as contributors to resilient food systems.
Rethinking Entry into the Profession
Another important insight from the report is that career decisions are often made during university years, and that awareness plays a decisive role. Many students choose their field of study based on perceived job opportunities and economic security, not intrinsic interest alone.
For food safety auditing, this raises difficult questions:
- Are universities exposing students to auditing as a profession?
- Are food safety careers presented as dynamic and evolving, or static and regulatory?
- Are audit organizations offering structured development paths that reflect the new skill mix?
If auditors are expected to operate at a higher cognitive level earlier in their careers, then apprenticeship models based solely on shadowing and procedural learning may no longer be sufficient. Future food safety auditors will need earlier exposure to risk analysis, systems thinking, and professional judgement, not just standards interpretation.
From Compliance to Capability
Perhaps the most important parallel between internal audit and food safety audit lies in the evolution from compliance to value. The report emphasizes that auditors must move beyond assurance to become strategic advisors who help organizations navigate uncertainty.
In food safety, this could mean shifting the focus of audits from “did you meet the clause?” to “does this system actually control risk under real conditions?” It implies greater attention to:
- Organizational learning
- Decision-making under pressure
- Cultural drivers of behavior
- Trade-offs between efficiency and product safety
This does not mean abandoning standards but rather embedding them within a broader understanding of how product safety is produced in practice.
A Reflection for the Profession
Taken together, the report does not simply describe a talent challenge; it describes a shift in professional identity. The real challenge, therefore, is not only to train new auditors differently, but to rethink what we reward, what we measure, and what we define as “good auditing.”
For food safety auditing, the message is clear: the future will not belong to those who know the most clauses, but to those who can best understand how food safety is created or lost within complex systems.
The next generation will not simply inherit the profession. They will reshape it. The question is whether current structures are ready to evolve with them, or whether they will try to force tomorrow’s auditors into yesterday’s roles.
Reference: “Preparing for the Next Generation of Internal Audit Talent” The Institute of Internal Auditors, 2026 https://www.theiia.org/en/content/research/foundation/2026/preparing-for-the-next-generation-of-internal-audit-talent/
