Introducing Agentic Auditor – Your New Favorite Coworker

(who won’t steal your stapler)

For over three decades, the Department of Defense (DOD) has grappled with the complexities of financial accountability, falling short of meeting the requirements of a clean audit under the CFO Act. The DOD has set an ambitious target: achieve a clean audit by 2028. To get there, it must tackle persistent challenges around documentation, reconciliation, data accuracy, and process consistency.

Two forces are in play here – the first is a renewed focus on ‘doing more with less’ across the entire federal government – the second –is the fact that 2028 continues to get closer day by day. DOD has made significant progress; maturing processes, addressing material weaknesses, and engaging with Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) support resources to address the concerns and risks identified by Independent Public Accountants (IPAs). However, the fact of the matter remains – we need more help. The reality is that many of the DOD’s unresolved audit findings aren’t due to neglect, but rather, that they are sidelined because the very people who should be fixing them are consumed by the labor-intensive, manual, and often repetitive tasks required just to get through the next audit cycle.

Help can come in many ways – more bodies, more technology, more money – none of which seem to be easily accessible in the short term. We must think outside the box when it comes to the resources available. Every day we read about Learning Language Models (LLMs) and Agentic Processes contributing to the operational efficiency in industries like medicine, retail, customer service, manufacturing, and transportation. It’s time we start to read about the Agentic approach to Audit Remediation.

Groundswell’s Agentic Auditor solution is purpose-built to accelerate DOD’s objectives. Our automation-first, audit-focused approach addresses critical gaps that have historically hindered audit success: manual processes, error-prone reviews, inconsistent reconciliations, and poor (or non-existent!) anomaly detection. Agentic Auditor is your favorite coworker, minus the small talk, fish microwaving, and loud typing.

By offloading the repetitive, time-consuming audit tasks to the Agentic Auditor, DOD can direct its human horsepower toward the high-value, thought-driven work required to resolve weaknesses and strengthen internal controls. If the Department is serious about achieving a clean audit by 2028, it will take more than policy and strategic intent. It will take execution, precision, and tools that deliver from day one. The Agentic Auditor isn’t here to replace people — it’s here to empower them to focus on what they do best. And yes, while it doesn’t need a badge or a cubicle, it does respect one critical workplace truth: no fish in the microwave.