Retained by the fund. Deployed where the value is.
A senior AI operating partner the fund holds on retainer and points at the deal or portfolio company where AI can move the numbers most. We go in with management, stay until the change is live and measured in hours returned, then move to the next priority. Not a light-touch review of the whole portfolio: hands-on capacity your deal team can deploy.
How the retainer works
The same model the larger funds run with in-house operating teams: capacity held centrally and sent in where it will earn most. Sized for a lower mid-market fund.
Four ways to deploy it
Most funds start with one diligence or one portfolio company, then keep the capacity on retainer for the next.
What the platform is, whether the product earns the plan, and a costed AI value-creation plan in the IC pack.
PRE-DEAL · 2–4 WKS 02Held by the fund and deployed into whichever portfolio company has the strongest AI value case, then redeployed once the work is live and handed over.
RETAINED · DEPLOYED ON DEMAND 03Inside one portfolio company with its team: internal tooling, automation and agents in production in weeks.
IN A PORTCO · 4–8 WKS 04A small number of seats where technology, product and AI decide the outcome.
GOVERNANCE · ANNUALWhere to point it
A retainer is only as valuable as the choice of where it goes. These are the questions we work through with the deal partner before each deployment.
Why funds use us
Deployed, not spread thin
Capacity goes where the value case is strongest, instead of being sliced evenly across every portfolio company.
Operator, not analyst
Ran a product consultancy for thirteen years, then a marketplace as CEO through its sale. Five exits as founder or C‑suite.
Continuity
The person who diligences the target can go back in after completion and build what the plan promised.
Still building
Hands on the current AI tooling every week. The plan reflects what works in production now, not what a vendor deck says.
Deal timetable
Diligence quoted within 48 hours and delivered inside your exclusivity window.
How it's paid for
Paid by the fund. An annual term with a set number of senior days each month, reviewed at six months. Bands are on the pricing page.
Build work inside a portfolio company is scoped as a fixed-price engagement, usually invoiced to that company, which is how external operating support is commonly charged. Agreed with the fund against your LPA and fee offset terms.
One page per deployment for the deal partner: baseline, what went live, hours returned, and what is still running six months on. A portfolio summary for the IC each quarter.
Indicative bands for retainers and delivery are on how we work and pricing.
Questions funds ask
What does a retained AI operating partner do for a PE fund?
It gives the fund a senior AI operator on call. The deal team deploys that capacity into a target during diligence, or into a portfolio company after completion, wherever the AI value case is strongest. Each deployment is hands on: diagnose, build and put into production with management, measure against a baseline, hand over, then move to the next priority.
How is this different from a portfolio-wide AI review?
A review spreads effort evenly and usually ends with a roadmap for each company. A deployable partner concentrates effort where the money is, stays until the change is running and leaves something measurable behind. Most funds get more from two portfolio companies done properly than from ten reviewed.
Who pays, the fund or the portfolio company?
Typically the fund pays the retainer, and the portfolio company pays for fixed-price delivery work in its own business, which is how external operating support is commonly charged. The right split depends on your LPA and fee offset terms, so it is agreed with the fund before the first deployment.
How quickly can you be deployed?
Retained capacity means a deployment can usually start within a week of the deal partner asking. Diligence is quoted within 48 hours and built around a normal exclusivity window.
Does this replace our existing operating partners?
No. Most funds already have operating partners for finance, commercial or technology. This adds AI-specific delivery capacity they can call on, without creating another full-time seat.
What we don't do
Saying no to these is most of what makes the rest work.
Recent work
Three agents live in six weeks at a £40m-revenue services business
Quoting, customer onboarding and month-end reconciliation automated with the ops and finance teams in the room. Built on their existing systems; handed over documented.
Tech, product & AI diligence on a vertical SaaS target
Platform and team review plus a costed AI value-creation plan for the IC. Two of the plan's items were delivered in the first quarter of ownership.
An owner-managed distributor made AI-native in a quarter
Internal pricing tool and document handling rebuilt with the team, then a twelve-week embed until the new workflows were the habit.