August 14, 2024
Artificial Intelligence: AI Tools are Changing the M&A Process
A new SSC Intralinks report says that dealmakers are rapidly incorporating AI tools into M&A transactions and have very positive views on AI’s potential to generate value in the deal process. This excerpt discusses how AI tools are changing how deal teams:
AI tools are already changing the ways that surveyed dealmakers work. Indeed, only 23 percent say AI has not yet had a meaningful impact on their day-to-day role. And even in Latin America, where AI tools have gained relatively less traction, fewer than a third of dealmakers (32 percent) say they are in this position.
The good news is that the impact of AI to date has been largely positive. For example, 62 percent of respondents say that AI is creating new opportunities for dealmakers. Many of these opportunities are discussed in more detail throughout this report, but it is increasingly clear that AI tools are valuable at every stage of the deal process, from target sourcing to post-deal integration.
Moreover, AI also has a role to play in supporting some of the ancillary tasks of dealmakers. Not least, 58 percent of dealmakers say AI tools have enhanced their reporting capabilities. The ability to execute deal-related work in this way represents an important opportunity in its own right. More broadly, dealmakers are excited by the productivity improvements that AI now promises. Almost half of respondents (44 percent) say that AI tools have already improved their M&A teams’ efficiency. As implementations gather pace, that figure is likely to increase.
The report says that AI is likely to have its greatest impact in deal origination and in post-closing integration. By providing data-driven insights, AI tools can help dealmakers make better-informed decisions, investigate a much broader universe of potential targets and streamline the process of narrowing these down to the most attractive potential transactions. Post-closing, AI tools can help expedite integration planning and execution through automated workflows, intelligent systems and improved cultural alignment.
– John Jenkins