Singapore · VP · Head of IT Audit

Johan Chen.

Vice President · Head of IT Audit

Translating technology risk into business clarity — for 22 years.

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Johan Chen, VP Head of IT Audit
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Profile

IT Audit & Cybersecurity Leader

Big Four consulting foundation; over two decades leading IT audit across multinationals in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Career spanning PwC, Panasonic, DIC, ABB, Golden Agri-Resources, and Olam Agri — partnering with CIOs, CISOs, and Audit Committees on technology governance, ERP risk, and cybersecurity assurance.

Today, Head of IT Audit at Olam Agri — pioneering AI-driven audit transformation, Snowflake-based continuous monitoring, and AI-powered audit report drafting that has reduced drafting effort by 40%. Trusted advisor to executive leadership on emerging risks including cloud security, AI governance, and ERP controls.

A rare profile in the audit profession — an audit leader who understands AI, data, and systems deeply enough to transform the function.

Career

22 Years · 6 Companies · 5 Continents

Nov 2021 – PresentSingapore

Vice President · Head of IT Audit

Olam Global Agri Pte Ltd

  • Built an AI-powered Internal Audit assistant improving report drafting efficiency by 40%
  • Implemented Snowflake-based analytics with SAP SSO monitoring and password-sharing detection
  • Led enterprise SAP security and Basis review across global operations
  • Advised Audit Committee on cybersecurity, cloud, and AI governance risks
  • Conducted operational audits covering Trading Operations and SAP SD/MM/FICO process reviews
Feb 2016 – Oct 2021Singapore

Vice President · Head of IT Audit

Golden Agri-Resources Ltd

  • Spearheaded proactive data monitoring analytics and machine learning-enhanced audit testing
  • Led cybersecurity audits using advanced open-source tools including Kali Linux
  • Built IT audit teams across Singapore, China, and Indonesia
  • Partnered with CIO on IT risk assessment and Audit Committee advisory
  • Led operational audits in Credit Management, Trade Operations, and Sales and Marketing
  • Conducted SAP SD/MM/FICO process reviews across business operations
Oct 2015 – Feb 2016SingaporeShort-term role — travel intensity (80%) differed from agreed scope

Internal Audit Manager, AMEA Region

ABB Pte Ltd

  • Planned and performed operational audits across Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa
  • Conducted Project reviews and Sales and Marketing audits across group companies
Jun 2012 – Oct 2015Singapore

Regional Internal Audit Manager

DIC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

  • Led SAP GRC Access Control implementation across DIC Group
  • Acted as Regional CIO for ~6 months during leadership transition
  • Built audit team across Singapore, India, China, and Japan
Apr 2011 – Jun 2012Singapore

Regional IT Audit Manager

Panasonic Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

  • Directed SOX and ISO 27001 compliance assessments across Asia-Pacific subsidiaries
  • Developed governance frameworks and conducted training for regional subsidiaries
Oct 2004 – Mar 2011Indonesia → SingaporeIndonesia Oct 2004–May 2006 · Singapore Jun 2006–Mar 2011

IT Auditor · Assistant Manager

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

  • Managed ITGC, SOX/J-SOX, and application control reviews across diverse industry clients
  • Earned first-rating performance review from PwC Partner for complex telco data analytics project
  • Led User Acceptance Testing for Singapore MAS backend banking systems (MEPS+, CAS)
May – Oct 2004Indonesia

System Engineer

PT Mastersystem Infotama

  • OS configuration and network setup for banks and financial institutions

Selected Work

Initiatives That Moved the Needle

AI · Olam Agri · 2023–Present

AI-Powered Internal Audit Assistant

Generative AI platform that learns from 10 years of historical audit reports. Identifies recurring control weaknesses, proposes new audit scope areas, and drafts professional observations covering risk impact, root cause, and recommendations.

  • Built on RAG architecture with LLM engineering and agentic frameworks
  • Reduces audit report drafting effort by 40%
  • Integrated with Power BI for visual audit trend analytics

Data · Olam Agri · 2022

Internal Audit Analytics Dashboard

Power BI dashboard surfacing historical audit issues, recurring control weaknesses, and risk trend patterns across IT, finance, and operations.

  • Enables cross-functional risk trend monitoring
  • Supports data-driven future audit planning
  • Used by IT, finance, and management teams

Automation · Golden Agri · 2019–2021

Continuous Monitoring Suite

Proactive anomaly detection platform shifting audit from periodic review to continuous coverage across enterprise systems.

  • SAP SSO anomaly monitoring for unusual usage patterns
  • Active Directory password-sharing detection analytics
  • Multi-device policy violation identification

Analytics · Olam Agri · 2022

Snowflake Audit Analytics Platform

Migrated legacy audit scripts to a governed, scalable Snowflake environment with data validation and execution monitoring.

  • Replaced legacy ACL scripts with modern cloud analytics
  • Implemented data integrity validation procedures
  • Supported knowledge transfer and team adoption

Expertise

Core Competencies

IT Audit & Risk

  • IT General Controls (ITGC)
  • Application Controls (ITAC)
  • SOX & J-SOX compliance
  • ERP risk & change management
  • Audit Committee advisory
  • Internal control frameworks

Cybersecurity

  • Identity & Access Management
  • VAPT & penetration testing
  • SOC & security control review
  • Cloud security (AWS, Azure)
  • AI governance (ISO/IEC 42001)
  • Vulnerability management

Enterprise Systems

  • SAP S/4HANA & SAP GRC
  • SAP SD, MM, FICO, HCM, Basis
  • CTRM (3Rivers, GrainSmart)
  • Oracle Financial & JD Edwards
  • Microsoft 365 & cloud platforms
  • Snowflake & data platforms

Data & AI

  • Snowflake, SQL, Power BI
  • Python, Power Automate
  • RAG, QLoRA fine-tuning
  • Context & prompt engineering
  • LangGraph, LangChain, n8n
  • Multi-agent orchestration (CrewAI, AutoGen)
  • MLOps — AWS Bedrock, SageMaker, LangFlow
  • OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Gemini, Ollama

Credentials

Qualifications & Learning

Certifications

  • CISACertified Information Systems Auditor · ISACA · 2012
  • CISSPCertified Information Systems Security Professional · (ISC)² · 2017
  • CDPSECertified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer · ISACA · 2020

Program Completions

  • Proficient AI EngineerEd Donner · 20265 tracks: LLM Engineering & RAG · QLoRA fine-tuning · Agentic Architectures & MCP · MLOps on AWS/GCP/Azure · AI Leadership

Education

B.Eng. Electrical Engineering (Computer & Information Systems)Universitas Gadjah Mada · Yogyakarta, IndonesiaGPA 3.39 / 4.00

Selected Training

Azure Administrator Associate · Microsoft · 2022AWS Solution Architect · Udemy · 2021AWS Security Specialty · Udemy · 2021Advanced Infrastructure Hacking · Black Hat · 2017Computer Forensics · RIT · 2018Wharton Business Foundations · Wharton / UPenn · 2018

Languages

Bahasa IndonesiaNative
EnglishFull professional proficiency
MandarinProfessional working proficiency
MalayProfessional working proficiency
HokkienMother tongue

Self-studies an hour a day. Jogs. Builds local LLMs on weekends. Fluent in five languages, audits in three.

Contact

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+65 9221 7890

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