Why we still hire in the age of AI: how AI rewrites the M&A deal cycle

Every PE firm, corporate M&A team, and finance function is wrestling with the same question right now: what does AI actually mean for us?

The honest answer is that a ChatGPT subscription or a Claude license is not the answer. Real impact happens when AI is embedded into the entire deal cycle, from buy-side screening and outside-in analysis, through financial due diligence, into automated reporting and controlling, and all the way to a data-backed exit.

In this live podcast, our co-founder Deniz Schütz sits down with Christian Underwood (StrategyFrame) and Dr. Sascha Hagenmüller (Radial Consulting) to break down what that actually looks like in practice. Concrete use cases, no theory, no vendor pitches.

Watch the full recording on YouTube.

What the session covers

Proprietary deal flow at scale. How AI rewrites buy-side sourcing and makes it possible to run systematic screening at a scale that was not practical before.

Beyond NACE codes. Why industry-code-based peer groups do not hold up in today's deal environment, and what a better approach looks like when business models no longer fit neatly into legacy classifications.

From red flags to deal readiness. Commercial due diligence in minutes rather than weeks, and what that changes for how teams allocate time on a deal.

Financial due diligence in the age of AI. Where AI genuinely accelerates FDD work and where professional judgment still does the heavy lifting.

Automated reporting and controlling. What AI-integrated company processes look like in practice, and what it takes to actually get there from where most firms are today.

AI-based value creation. How the same analytical infrastructure that supports deal execution can be turned toward portfolio performance after close.

What "AI-ready" actually means. Not a buzzword checklist, but a practical look at what firms that are moving fast have in common, and what the gap looks like for those that are not.

Why this conversation matters now

In 12 months, there will be firms that rebuilt their deal and value creation process around AI, and firms that did not. The gap between those two groups is already opening. What separates them is not access to technology. It is whether AI has been embedded into actual workflows or is still sitting at the edge of the process as an experiment.

This session is for anyone in private equity, corporate M&A, or finance who wants to understand what peers are already building, and what is at stake for teams that are not yet in that conversation.

Watch the full recording on YouTube.

A live podcast with Christian Underwood (StrategyFrame), Dr. Sascha Hagenmüller (Radial Consulting), and Deniz Schütz (StrategyBridgeAI).