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The fifth edition of the Audit Committee Practices Report has been released. This report is a joint initiative of Deloitte’s Center for Board Effectiveness and the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ). The report draws on 248 survey responses from audit committee chairs and members, primarily on boards of US public companies with $2 billion or more in market capitalization. The data for the report was gathered between May 6 and June 7, 2026.

Here are the key findings from the report:

Enterprise risk management (ERM) is at the top, even as cybersecurity risk remains pervasive. With oversight of financial reporting and ICFR as a baseline expectation, ERM is the number-one priority for audit committees (39%) for the first time since this survey’s inception. This is part of a broader shift, with 54% of respondents saying their committee has grown more focused on emerging risks over the past year. Cybersecurity still shows up on more committees’ priority lists overall (87% named it a top-three priority, versus 77% for ERM), a pattern that has held for five consecutive surveys.

AI governance is a priority, but committee confidence and oversight maturity are still evolving. AI governance proves to be a distinct focus area in this fifth edition, yet many audit committees are still early in the oversight journey: 29% of respondents report that their audit committee is responsible for primary oversight of AI governance, and 82% of those respondents describe their oversight as “emerging” or “limited.” Confidence in overseeing AI trails every other area surveyed. A tension exists between the increasing responsibility for AI governance and suboptimal confidence levels in overseeing it. This tension is compounded by a skills gap: Technology, including AI, was the single most-cited skill (70%) needed to enhance committee effectiveness, while more than half (58%) are not yet using AI tools in their own board work.

High-quality engagement and consistent communication are setting the standard for effectiveness. Audit committees report that high-quality, consistent communication and engagement are important to strengthening the effectiveness of their own committee and are top considerations when assessing the independent auditor’s performance. The top-rated opportunity to enhance committee effectiveness is higher-quality discussion and challenge during meetings (41%), while the top overall response for what audit committees value most in their auditor is engagement team leadership, experience, and continuity (52%).

In addition to tracking key priorities for the audit committee, this edition of the report examines a more fundamental question: “Do audit committees feel equipped to oversee the areas for which they are responsible?” This edition also tracks responses to questions focused on AI governance, assessing the audit committee’s oversight of AI use by finance, internal audit, and the external auditor, as well as committee members’ own use of AI in board work.

– Dave Lynn