The view from Paulo Dassa ACCA

Audit is evolving into a more strategic and value-driven function. Auditors are increasingly seen as business advisers, contributing insights that support decision-making rather than purely assessing compliance. This shift positions audit closer to strategy, requiring a blend of technical expertise, commercial awareness and the ability to influence outcomes at senior levels.

I oversee governance, risk and control frameworks across Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. My role centres on audit coordination, stakeholder engagement and aligning audit activities with business priorities. I lead cross-regional initiatives, ensuring consistency in approach while driving improvements that enhance control environments and support strategic decision-making.

Waters Corporation is a global leader in analytical instruments. The company operates in more than 35 countries and supports laboratories across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food safety and environmental testing. Ireland plays a key role within its international footprint, combining manufacturing, commercial and support functions. The company is focused on enabling scientific advancement through reliable, high-quality analytical solutions.

One of the most significant challenges ahead is integration following a major merger, which effectively doubled the size of the organisation. This introduces complexity across systems, processes and organisational cultures. Ensuring alignment, maintaining control integrity and integrating operations at scale will be critical to achieving long-term value.

Our response will centre on structured integration governance, including harmonisation of processes, alignment of control frameworks and consolidation of systems. A key focus will be maintaining control effectiveness while supporting business continuity. Clear accountability, strong coordination across functions and disciplined execution will be essential to ensuring a successful and sustainable integration.

In the year ahead, my professional focus will be on coordinating audit activities through the complexity of our ongoing merger integration while maintaining quality across legacy entities. Balancing transformation with consistency of standards will be key. I am also focused on strengthening my ability to operate at a more strategic level and support stakeholders effectively during periods of change.

Being selected for ACCA’s Leaders of Tomorrow programme represents a valuable opportunity to exchange knowledge with peers across Europe. While I regularly collaborate across global markets within my organisation, engaging with professionals from different companies brings fresh perspectives. This broader exposure is highly valuable in shaping both professional growth and leadership thinking.

To switch off, I travel as much as possible and enjoy exploring different cultures. Swimming in warm waters is one of my preferred ways to relax, along with reading and spending time on spiritual reflection.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that most professionals do not intend to perform poorly; outcomes are often shaped by context, systems and pressures. Working across diverse cultures has reinforced the value of different perspectives in achieving strong results. Understanding people and context is essential to driving meaningful and sustainable improvements.