Nathaniel Bell is the Corporate Functions Business Data Leader at Wells Fargo, where he specializes in optimizing data strategies to support AI initiatives and address organizational challenges. Focusing on bridging infrastructure investments and innovative AI use cases, Nate provides valuable insights into managing risks and aligning AI technologies with business objectives. For his episode in the MindBridge-sponsored series, Nathaniel highlights the ongoing tension in auditing between objectivity and subjectivity. Auditors aim to be objective, but as Nathaniel notes in his podcast appearance, they often work with human-led processes that are inherently subjective, especially when auditors and process owners have different perceptions about what constitutes a risk.
He tells the podcast audience that digital transformation, including AI, can help codify business processes, making them more structured and standardized. The shift will enable auditors to assess risks more objectively and data-driven. For example, if something breaks in a system, it becomes immediately transparent — less open to interpretation:
“I tend to focus on highly manual processes because they represent both risk and opportunity. These processes are not only time-consuming, but they also introduce a significant margin for human error. Research shows that in complex spreadsheets, we typically catch only about 70% of errors — leaving a substantial gap in accuracy and oversight. That’s why I always ask: where can we apply AI to reduce that margin of error and drive more reliable, efficient outcomes?”
Nathaniel also reflects on a common pitfall in audit workflows: getting fixated on a single issue within a process and treating it as a major risk without a broader context. He stresses the importance of stepping back to assess systemic risk rather than overemphasizing isolated errors.
Ultimately, Nathaniel believes auditors should and will spend less time on routine tasks and more time on storytelling as AI-driven automation becomes more commonplace in financial institutions. He sees the future of auditing as a discipline that leverages human talent to connect findings with broader business impact, helping stakeholders understand not just what went wrong but why it matters.