How Helvetia Baloise gave internal audit room to focus on risk

At leading European insurance group Helvetia Baloise, the company's promise to customers is simple: “We stand with you when it matters — today and tomorrow.” With approximately 22,000 employees and a business volume of around CHF 20 billion, the company relies on a strong internal audit function to deliver on that promise by providing independent assurance, strengthening governance, and improving internal controls across the organization.

But the audit management system supporting that work had become a hindrance. Implemented years earlier, the legacy platform had gradually been customized to meet changing business requirements. "At the end, it was too much customization," says Christian Schacher, Group Chief Audit Executive at Helvetia Baloise. “Our previous audit management system was not very intuitive. It included a lot of manual processes. A lot of work was done outside of the system, and it became increasingly difficult to use.”

The challenge: A legacy system that was worked around, not in

As the company prepared for a merger of equals — the merger of Helvetia and Baloise — and faced increasing geopolitical uncertainty, demands on the internal audit team grew. While the team was responsible for helping the organization respond to new risks and challenges, auditors were still relying on manual workarounds to complete their work.

Schacher recognized the need for a modern audit management system, but wasn't looking to trade one heavily customized platform for another. He wanted to stay much closer to the platform's out-of-the-box configuration while ensuring auditors could consistently follow the team's internal audit standards and IIA Standards. “We needed an audit management system to support us on a day-to-day basis in our audit work. I wanted to get closer to the standard while also making sure we had clear guardrails and quality gates in place.”

The solution: Supporting the full audit lifecycle in a “game-changing” single platform with Optro

When Helvetia Baloise began evaluating audit management systems, Schacher's team knew exactly what they wanted from the next platform. After years of working around a system that had become difficult to use, usability was a top priority. “We wanted a user-centric, modern, and intuitive platform with long-term flexibility,” says Schacher.

That flexibility didn’t mean extensive customization. Instead, it meant giving the team the ability to adapt the platform where needed while remaining close to its standard configuration. For example, the team wanted to document its internal risk assessment process directly within the platform. Schacher also wanted end-to-end support across the internal audit lifecycle and automated communication with auditees.

AI was another important consideration during the evaluation. Schacher looked for a technology partner committed to continually advancing AI capabilities to support the team’s long-term vision for AI. “AI is a co-pilot, not a pilot,” says Schacher. “Decision-making and approvals remain firmly with people.” After evaluating several solutions, Helvetia Baloise selected Optro.

Rolling out Optro across the audit function

Helvetia Baloise rolled out Optro’s OpsAudit solution, part of its AI-powered GRC Intelligence platform, led by a small internal “super user" team. “The implementation was smooth, efficient, and fast," says Schacher. “The tool is intuitive and easy to understand. We also had a small internal team of experts supporting our auditors, and whenever we needed additional help, Optro was there to support us.”

Christian Schacher, Group Chief Audit Executive, Helvetia Baloise, says:

Optro is now the central system of action for Helvetia Baloise's groupwide internal audit function. Auditors manage the audit lifecycle in a single platform, from planning through follow-up. One of the most noticeable improvements has been issue follow-up, where automated communication with auditees has replaced manual emails and the collection of evidence.

“We have started to use Optro's automated communication with auditees during the follow-up process,” explains Schacher. “We ask them to provide evidence for open issues, and for us, this will be a game-changer, once rolled-out throughout the entire group. It helps us become faster and collaborate in a much more automated way with our auditees.”

Results: Enabling audit teams to deliver more than assurance

Since implementing Optro, auditors have embraced the platform in a way they never did with the previous system. “The most valuable aspect of using Optro is the ability to manage the full audit process within a single system, from beginning to end,” says Schacher. “We really use Optro a lot more than we used our previous system.”

Schacher points to two areas where Optro has made the biggest difference:

• Risk assessment: The audit team can now document its internal risk assessment process while staying aligned with the group risk management department, ensuring both functions "speak the same language" when assessing risks.
• Audit follow-up: Communication and action tracking with auditees have become more transparent and efficient.

Proving its value after the merger of equals

The completion of the merger of Helvetia and Baloise became an early test of the platform's long-term value. With two different audit management systems in use, the newly combined audit function needed to standardize on a single platform. “Following the merger, we conducted a prudent evaluation because the companies had different audit management systems,” explains Schacher. “In the end, we chose Optro.”

Optro was selected again for many of the same reasons it stood out during the original evaluation. This time, however, the team also had something it didn't have before: proof. “We already had the proof that it worked because we had implemented Optro before the merger," says Schacher. “We saw that it really helped us in our day-to-day work and in our collaboration with auditees and the wider organization.” The new colleagues are now being onboarded to Optro as the rollout continues across the merged organization.

Christian Schacher, Group Chief Audit Executive, Helvetia Baloise, says:

The team is also using AI as a productivity and quality lever to support audit work programs, summarize reports and policies, and assist selected fieldwork, such as fraud detection and anomaly identification. “Optro really helps us here," says Schacher. “They already provide AI capabilities, and we're excited to see those capabilities continue to expand.”

Strengthening the governance behind every customer promise

For Schacher, one of the biggest benefits is what the platform allows the internal audit team to contribute to the business. “Optro helps ensure we have a clearly structured audit process in place with the right quality gates and the right guardrails,” he says. “Optro supports us not only in fulfilling our day-to-day work and our audit mandate, but also in positioning us as a role within the organization to bring greater insights and impact to the organization.”

With Optro, Helvetia Baloise's internal auditors have more room to focus on risk instead of process. Supported by standardized workflows, automation, and ongoing innovation — including AI — the team is better equipped to deliver the insights and assurance that help the company fulfill its promise of standing with customers "when it matters — today and tomorrow."

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