An AI operating partner the fund can deploy.
Mid-market funds know AI belongs in the value-creation plan and can't justify a full-time operating partner to own it. This is that role on retainer: senior days reserved for the fund each month, which the deal team deploys into the target or portfolio company where AI can move the numbers most. Hands on with management until it's live and measured, then redeployed.
What the role covers
Agreed with the deal team at the start of the term and reviewed at six months.
Sent where the value case is strongest
The deal partner chooses the company. We agree the outcome, the baseline to beat and the exit criteria before day one.
Hands on with management
Inside the portfolio company with its CEO and a named owner: diagnose, build and put into production. Someone who has sat in their chair.
More hands when it's worth it
Where a deployment needs more than the retained days, an embedded sprint from me and the bench, scoped and priced separately.
Pipeline, 100-day plans and exits
Early reads on targets, priority access for full diligence, AI in the 100-day plan for new acquisitions, and an evidenced AI story for each exit.
Reporting per deployment
One page for the deal partner after each deployment: baseline, what went live, hours returned, still running at six months. A quarterly summary for the IC.
Patterns that transfer
What works in one portfolio company is packaged for the next deployment, so the fund pays for a pattern once.
How a deployment runs
The same shape every time the fund sends us in.
See what an AI value-creation plan actually looks like
A redacted plan from a recent engagement: the opportunity map, the cost-out model in three cases, readiness findings and the first-hundred-days sequence. Twelve pages, PDF.
Who it suits
Lower-mid-market funds
Six to fifteen portfolio companies, no in-house operating team of scale, and an LP base asking about AI.
Tech-enabled services and software
Businesses where the cost base is people doing process, and the growth story rests on product.
Funds who want it done, not described
If you want a framework and a workshop, there are cheaper options. This is for funds that want working systems in the portfolio.