Why an audit director at a leading technology university switched to Optro

Martha Jane Gagnon is an Audit Director at a leading technology university. She’s responsible for quality assurance and execution of the strategic development plan, and she manages the technical team that supports the audit division.

While her team adopted an early-generation GRC platform, they eventually needed more robust audit functionality, supported by a vendor focused on customer engagement. Read on to see how Optro’s AI-powered system of action streamlined the team’s audits and paved the way for proactive, real-time monitoring.

What did your operations look like before Optro?

Gagnon’s team started with a third-party audit software that was competent and helped the team’s audit functions get off the ground. However, as the team’s capability matured, Gagnon needed functionality that the software couldn’t deliver, specifically involving the design and development of roll-up reporting.

Early efforts on the initial platform, unfortunately, led to significant time and financial losses, but it was a clear sign that the team needed to move to a more capable audit tool.

“It really didn't take root, unfortunately. We invested countless hours and many budget dollars in this project, only to not achieve the desired results. And so we began to look at what other platforms could meet our needs.”

Why did you choose Optro?

With the lost effort, it was clear that Gagnon’s team needed a fully customizable, all-in-one audit platform that could grow with the team. Optro stood out among other in-cloud solutions because of the team’s focus on building a partnership.

“We researched a number of different in- cloud solutions. We understood that Optro’s goal was to work with us as a partner, and we wanted to work with the vendor as a partner. So that was a big factor in why we moved forward.”

How has Optro changed your team’s life?

Ever since Gagnon’s team made the switch, they haven’t looked back. Their first project with Optro: a dashboard that enabled data transparency. This began in 2025 and has since grown, enabling team-wide reporting and real-time, actionable data. That minimizes the need for check-ins, enabling more efficient audits.

The team has also incorporated more AI into the audit cycle, from planning to the compilation of the risk and control matrix. Overall, the Optro platform gives Gagnon and her team a proactive, real-time tool that streamlines audits while leaving room for future functionality.

“The reporting has gained more credibility than it's had in the past and has been able to transparently provide the committee and the leadership with a more detailed level of audit productivity and results, in terms of improving our insight into the data, where specific milestones are being met, where specific issues are, in terms of status and management action follow-up. The tool allows us this real-time, holistic view of where audits and issue management sit.”

Foster your potential with Optro

Most people say that starting is the hardest part, but once you’ve started, how do you keep yourself from stagnating? When it comes to Gagnon and her team, the answer was turning to Optro.

Support your team’s audit growth and maturity with Optro. Take a look at our AI-powered audit and book a demo to get hands-on experience with our platform.