Challenge is a method, not a personality trait
The PwC Audit 2027 Video Interview uses this scenario to see how you behave when a colleague prefers the usual method and you can see another possibility. The central issue is not who wins the disagreement.
Your answer needs to show how the team can reach a defensible decision that another reviewer could understand.
The scenario in full
Candidates receive this wording:
Challenge is crucial to audit quality. It is important for us to increase our understanding of the organisations we audit for, so that we know we're challenging in the right areas and in a meaningful way. What would you do in the following scenario:
You are completing some data analytics for an audit with one of your colleagues. They share with you the approach that they typically take which they would like you to follow. However, you know a different approach using one of the new technologies PwC has invested in. What would you do in this situation?
In your response please share:
• What would you say to your colleague?
• How would you reach an agreement?
• How would you respond if your colleague provided you with constructive feedback?
Where the reasoning breaks
- Framing it as courage versus caution. Both methods need evidence, and either one can be wrong.
- Selling features instead of outcomes. The relevant question is whether the approach improves reliable audit work.
- Assuming agreement means adoption. The team may reasonably choose a pilot, modification, or rejection.
- Forgetting documentation. A decision with no rationale is difficult to review and repeat.
- Accepting feedback vaguely. Saying you welcome feedback means little unless you explain what you would do with it.
Turn disagreement into an evidence plan
The response should move from curiosity to comparison to a documented decision.
- Clarify the current method. Understand its purpose, known limitations, and the colleague's experience before proposing a change.
- Define the claimed improvement. State exactly what the new technology may improve and what new risk it might introduce.
- Design a fair comparison. Choose a manageable sample and measures both colleagues accept in advance.
- Review the result together. Invite challenge, revise the interpretation, and agree the next action based on the evidence.
- Respond visibly to feedback. Thank the colleague for the specific concern, investigate it, and explain the adjustment or reasoned conclusion.
This approach shows that collaboration does not mean avoiding disagreement. It means making disagreement useful to the quality of the work.
Practise the next Audit scenario
The complete PwC Audit question pack in our store includes the other prompts candidates may need to handle. Working through the full set helps the reasoning stay consistent when the scenarios change.
