AZIO AI HOLDINGS, INC. 10-Q

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (a) were not effective to ensure that information that we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and (b) include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting Due to the staff reductions and voluntary resignations we experienced beginning in the fourth quarter of 2020 and continuing through the closing of the Merger in March 2021, we increased our reliance on outsourced accounting help during such periods and for all periods thereafter through the date of this filing. As a result of such changes, we have been unable to maintain the levels of segregation of duties during such periods at the levels of prior periods, and such changes to our disclosure controls and procedures have significantly affected our internal control over financial reporting during the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. We have yet to fully resolve such deficiencies as of the date of this filing. However, as of June 25, 2021, we have engaged an experienced accounting professional with relevant expertise to serve as a consultant to the Company and provide additional accounting services intended to mitigate the negative effects of such recent changes to our disclosure controls and procedures. Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, cannot provide absolute assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs. Similarly, an evaluation of controls cannot provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. 27 PART II. OTHER INFORMATION