Most portfolio AI initiatives book a slide, not a saving. I run AI value creation across portfolio companies the way an operator does: pick the bets that move EBITDA, redesign each workflow from zero instead of layering AI on top of it, and drive adoption until the new way of working is the default. Independent and platform-agnostic, with no vendor commissions, so the recommendation serves the thesis and the hold period.
A cost-out programme cuts a line of spend and books a saving that shows up once, then flattens. An AI-native operating model removes the bottleneck itself, so the same team takes on work it used to turn away, and the gain compounds across the hold period. I build the second. The first is easy to buy and easy to model, and it rarely moves the multiple. The second is where the re-rating lives.
A read on a target’s AI exposure and upside before you sign. Where AI moves the thesis, what the EU AI Act will cost, and which AI claims in the deck hold up.
Hands-on across one or more portfolio companies. I pick the bets, build them in production, and stay until the team runs them without me. The capability stays after I leave.
I hold the AI seat at a portfolio company while you hire, so the value-creation plan starts moving before the permanent leader is in place.
I take no commission from any AI vendor or platform. If the right answer for a portfolio company is the cheaper tool, or no new tool at all, that is the answer you get. The recommendation serves the thesis and the hold period, and nothing else. That is the whole point of bringing in an operator rather than a reseller.
I ran AI transformation as Director of AI Transformation at a PE-backed software company, under a P&L mandate. I rebuilt go-to-market and back-office around AI in production and cut a core quote-to-cash process from days to hours. The lens I bring is an investor’s: I build the capability that compounds, not the cost-out that books once.
A short, fixed engagement across one company or the portfolio: where AI is real, where it is theatre, and where the next point of EBITDA is hiding. Two to three weeks, a fixed fee, and a prioritised value-creation read you keep whether or not we go further.
Book a 30-minute call →A 30-minute working call. We talk about the portfolio, the hold period, and where AI would move the number first. If I can help, I’ll scope it. If I can’t, I’ll say so and point you at someone who can.