Industry Insights
AI in Private Equity: Redefining investment strategy across the deal lifecycle
AI in Private Equity: Redefining investment strategy across the deal lifecycle
Artificial Intelligence has moved from buzzword to boardroom, and nowhere is its impact more visible than in Private Equity. Across the investment lifecycle, AI is reshaping how funds identify, evaluate, and grow portfolio companies. What once began as isolated proof-of-concept projects has now become an enterprise-scale transformation.
At SuperReturn Europe 2025 in Amsterdam, Harry Seip, Partner & Head of Benelux at OMMAX, joined a panel of leading experts to discuss “The Digital Edge: Analyzing AI’s Impact on Private Equity.” His central message reflected OMMAX’s experience across hundreds of client engagements: AI has become a fundamental performance driver, enabling faster decisions, smarter sourcing, and measurable ROI throughout the investment process.
From pilots to performance: The maturity of AI in PE
Only a few years ago, most AI initiatives in the PE ecosystem were small-scale pilots or exploratory projects. Today, they are being deployed enterprise-wide. At OMMAX, over 100 clients now run embedded AI operations, and AI is a component of nearly every commercial due diligence the firm conducts.
This shift has made AI a board-level topic, with clear P&L ownership, measurable KPIs, and defined governance structures. The impact is tangible:
- Up to 30% operational cost reduction in service operations
- Around 15% revenue uplift through AI-driven sales steering
- For every Euro invested, companies should target a 5 Euro return in 3 years
The key success factor? Treating AI not as an innovation experiment, but as a strategic performance driver integrated into daily business operations. This shift marks a turning point. AI is no longer an efficiency tool; it is becoming a strategic lever for performance and growth.
AI Due Diligence: The new standard
Traditional due diligence has focused on financial, commercial, and technical factors. But in today’s data-driven world, investors increasingly need to assess a company’s AI maturity and digital readiness. OMMAX’s AI Due Diligence framework integrates commercial, data, and tech assessments to evaluate how well-positioned a target is to create value through AI. This includes an analysis of data quality, algorithmic moat strength, governance and ethics structures, and the monetization potential of data assets. By linking digital performance KPIs directly to financial outcomes, AI Due Diligence enhances trust in valuations and improves deal accuracy. In the near future, this will become standard practice: investors will evaluate AI readiness just as rigorously as financial fitness when making acquisition decisions.
Smarter sourcing and value creation
AI is already transforming how deals are sourced and portfolios are managed. In origination, AI-powered engines scan digital signals such as hiring spikes, SEO growth, patent activity, and app store performance, to identify emerging outperformers long before they appear on traditional radars. By combining this data with human expertise, investors gain quantified insight into “digital momentum” and can prioritize deals with higher value potential.
Within portfolio companies, AI is driving measurable improvements in efficiency, growth, and scalability. For example, agentic AI systems used in customer service have reduced manual routing by 70%, reinforcement learning models have improved marketing conversions by up to 50%, and predictive HR tools have freed up management capacity while improving project staffing accuracy. Even creative processes benefit: AI-powered content engines are accelerating production speed by 40–50% without sacrificing organic marketing performance.
“AI Due Diligence will be as standard as Financial Due Diligence.”
Harry Seip, Partner & Head of Benelux at OMMAX
Challenges and enablers on the AI journey
Despite these successes, firms still face obstacles in scaling AI across portfolios. Legacy technology, siloed data, and undefined governance structures remain key hurdles. Organizations that start with structured AI readiness assessments, measuring data maturity, infrastructure, and ownership, typically achieve impact much faster.
At the same time, the regulatory landscape is evolving. The EU AI Act is expected to accelerate enterprise trust by defining clearer ethical and compliance frameworks. As a result, responsible AI and transparent governance will become decisive competitive advantages in the years ahead.
The next five years: From advantage to expectation
The evolution of AI in Private Equity is only beginning. Over the next five years, several trends will define the new competitive baseline:
- Agentic AI systems will take over end-to-end workflows, managing complex operations autonomously.
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) will replace SEO, as companies start optimizing for AI assistants rather than search engines.
- AI visibility metrics, including LLM citation frequency, sentiment, and AI-referred conversions, will emerge as new indicators of brand and portfolio value.
- And perhaps most importantly, AI Due Diligence will become as fundamental as financial due diligence, with every investment assessed for AI readiness and ethical maturity.
The private equity sector is entering a new phase of data-driven value creation. Funds that master AI, not just as a technology, but as an organizational capability, are already achieving superior insights, faster execution, and stronger returns.
At OMMAX, we help investors and management teams integrate AI across the entire investment lifecycle, from sourcing and diligence to portfolio transformation. Our mission: to turn AI, data, and technology into measurable growth and lasting enterprise value. Learn more about how OMMAX enables AI-driven value creation.
