The world is changing quickly, and the everyday corporate landscape is changing with it. Every company has to prove compliance with different governmental agencies, from everything from environmental reports down to payroll. That’s where Lisa Edwards the COO at Diligent, comes in, bringing her focus on using technology to improve the process for all payers. Every company has governmental rules and regulations they must follow and governmental rules to adhere to. Audits can be tedious and can take valuable time away from innovation and growth. Edwards brings incredible passion and expertise in using technology to improve the process.

Main Takeaways

• Adapting to global and evolving client needs: At a corporation like Diligent with branches all over the world, adapting to the different regulations of different regions, is complex and nuanced and is one of the strengths of Diligent’s work according to Edwards. The mindset of preparing for current client needs and preempting future desires continues to drive the company forward. 
• Corporate governance to lead a wave of social change: Diligent creates a streamlined interface where departments can interact with transparency, and this has allowed for positive changes in the cooperate structure. They have created ways for companies to diversify their boardrooms which, it turns out, makes for increased profit margins as well as improved social capital. It is also preparing for a very near-future reality where a company’s environmental impact needs to be reported and monitored.
• Improved operations mean faster, more meaningful growth: Operations might seem like the least interesting part of a business, but a streamlined system is, according to Edwards, the key to freeing a business to fly as high as it can. Without worrying about regulatory snafus, a business can just focus on what it does best: providing the best goods and/or services to the consumer.

For a more in-depth look at this episode, check out the article below.

Article Notes

The world is changing quickly, and the everyday corporate landscape is changing with it. Every company has to prove compliance with different governmental agencies, from everything from environmental reports down to payroll. That’s where Lisa Edwards the COO at Diligent, comes in, bringing her focus on using technology to improve the process for all payers. Every company has governmental rules and regulations they must follow and governmental rules to adhere to. Audits can be tedious and can take valuable time away from innovation and growth. Edwards brings incredible passion and expertise in using technology to improve the process. 

“It takes governance, risk compliance, audit, stocks… enterprise risk management,’ Edwards said. “And it puts it together in a logical way. So that across enterprises, you can share data. You can see those things. It’s the dream of a CFO or the head of audit – and in some cases, the board – to be able to have a line of sight on all these things.” 

On a recent episode of IT Visionaries, Edwards explained how Diligent is using this streamlined service not just to help companies keep everything in one manageable place, but also to help them improve.

“When you think about equality and your social impact… your diversity perspective and your carbon footprint – all of those things – how are you governing your company? What are the existential risks you’re looking at? What’s the risk and then the compliance?” 

It’s a question that Edwards hopes companies will think about, and the answer is something Diligent is hoping to help shape. 

“One of the many products that we have is a board portal – over 700,000 of the most powerful people in the world use this as they manage their board meetings,” Edwards explained.  “There’s a lot of diversity initiatives going on on boards. So, we spun this Rising Director Network where when someone on our network needs a new board member, they can look on our portal and look. Let’s try to diversify.” 

And Edwards thinks that’s just the beginning. Soon, she hopes Diligent will help the governing bodies of the world tackle climate change. 

“You better be paying attention to your climate positioning, and whether or not you’ve pledged net-zero and whether or not you have policies around that. There’s not a bad place to get started…when those regulations come out, there will be a timeframe to get compliant, but it’s clear it’s coming… there’s momentum around it for all the right reasons,” Edwards says.

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