Accenture offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Study notes majority of deal makers use tech and AI pre-deal, but only 7% apply Gen AI in half of deal stages.

A new report from Accenture finds more dealmakers are using tech and AI to accelerate pre-deal versus post-deal insights, and only 7% of dealmakers are applying gen AI in at least half of their deal stages despite this group being over 4x more likely to report they consistently capture value post-acquisition. Titled “Unlocking alpha in deals: How top dealmakers leverage tech, teams and partners” the report pairs insights sourced from 650 M&A and PE professionals with an analysis of 400 public M&A firms to analyze how tech, AI and gen AI are changing dealmaking.

Globally, 86% of C-suite leaders anticipate increasing investments in gen AI in 2025, and more than a third (34%) of organizations have successfully scaled at least one-industry tailored solution, according to additional Accenture research.

Across M&A and private equity professionals, additional key findings include:

  • 82% of executives surveyed say AI and advanced analytics have accelerated pre-deal insights.
  • Yet 94% say the pre-deal process still needs improvement.
  • Across the deal lifecycle, gen AI investments lag their perceived value. When assessing 12 stages of the pre- and post-deal lifecycle, the percentage of executives expecting high or very high value from gen AI investments is consistently higher than the percentage of executives currently investing in the technology.
    • More than half (56%) of executives invest in gen AI for due diligence but critical stages like integration and separation planning (14%) remain overlooked.
    • 79% of executives expect high value from gen AI in activities like industry and company research, but less than a third (31%) are investing in it.
  • The average level of gen AI adoption for the dealmaking stages is nearly a third (30%), compared to a fourth (24%) a year prior.
    • Pre-deal stages saw the largest increases, with deal sourcing and screening nearly doubling (24% to 44%).
    • Average growth in gen AI adoption post-deal remains lower, at 21% up from 18% in 2024.
M&A and PE executives differ on their AI and gen AI expectations and approaches:

  • Three out of five (62%) PE professionals cite data-related constraints as a challenge for decision-making, compared to 38% of M&A dealmakers.
  • PE professionals are generally more confident in gen AI’s potential compared to M&A executives. Among PE firms, those with over US$50 billion in assets under management (AUM) are investing in gen AI significantly more compared to smaller firms with AUM below $25 billion.
  • Overall, only 31% of dealmakers report their current approach to technology adoption–whether to build, buy or partner–is effective.
    • Nearly all (92%) PE firms prefer to buy intelligence solutions as a service, compared to M&A teams being more likely to develop solutions with an external vendor (40%).
J. Neely, global lead for Transaction Advisory at Accenture, and one of the lead authors of the research report said: “Dealmakers are seeing the value in using technology to identify and assess targets faster, refine bids with greater precision and craft more effective value creation plans, yet most executives are struggling to leverage AI and gen AI strategically across their deal lifecycle—and few do so at scale. High-performing firms, however, are embedding technology, including AI and gen AI, their teams and their ecosystem partners into the core of their dealmaking strategy and execution, and in turn, remaking every deal into insight and experience for the next.”

Rachel Barton, global lead for Private Equity at Accenture and a lead author added: “Private equity firms are seeing the impact of AI and gen AI firsthand—from automation and greater productivity to insights and better decision-making”—more than some of their counterparts. Critically, private equity professionals are eager to leverage this technology to examine where value has been created in the past and feed that into future investment theses, aligning to clear outcomes.”

SOURCE: Accenture

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