AI at the Firm Level: How CIOs and CTOs Are Rewiring Private Equity for a Data-Driven Future

Behind every AI success story in private equity is a technologist turning ambition into advantage. As firms race to embed AI across their value chains, CIOs and CTOs are becoming the architects of tomorrow’s investment performance.

We examined how technology leaders across private equity are converting AI from concept to competitive edge. The findings from our survey reveal where firms are gaining traction and where critical gaps remain.

AI Is Strategic, But Not Yet Systemic

More than half (56%) of technology leaders describe AI as strategic and a guiding force behind key business decisions, but not yet fully embedded in their firm’s operating model. Only 11% say it’s truly core to how they drive innovation and scale value across investments.

This tells us that private equity’s technology function is at a pivot point. Firms recognize AI’s potential, but the operating infrastructure and governance needed to realize it remain underdeveloped. To bridge that gap, having the right leadership in place—those capable of shaping the strategy roadmap, aligning people and platforms, and executing at scale—will determine who turns potential into real performance.

For PE firms, that gap represents both a risk and an opportunity. The next generation of CIOs and CTOs must not only set the AI vision, but also operationalize it across portfolio companies, business units, and deal teams.

Data Quality: The Silent Killer of AI Ambition

If AI is the engine, data is the fuel, and most leaders admit their tanks are far from full. Nearly 78% cite data quality and stewardship as their biggest barrier to effective AI deployment.

This challenge goes far beyond IT hygiene, as it speaks to structural issues around data ownership, governance, and integration across multiple legacy systems. Without high-integrity data, predictive analytics, and automation, the promise of AI remains theoretical.

The most effective Technology Officers are those who can establish strong data foundations by harmonizing fragmented systems, ensuring accountability, and creating a single source of truth across the firm. By combining structured and unstructured data, they unlock the full potential of AI, bringing greater efficiency, sharper insights, and a sustained competitive edge throughout the deal lifecycle.

Deal Sourcing and Value Creation Lead the Charge

When asked where AI has delivered the most value so far, CIOs and CTOs point to deal sourcing and market intelligence (67%), followed by post-close value creation (56%).

The insight here is powerful: AI is no longer confined to operational efficiency and is actively shaping investment theses. Firms are deploying machine learning to identify acquisition targets faster, evaluate risk profiles with greater precision, and track competitive dynamics in real time.

But the real differentiator lies in the continuity of insight: using AI not just to find deals, but to create value post-close. CIOs and CTOs who understand both sides of that equation, pre-deal analytics and post-close value creation, are emerging as the new strategic partners to the investment team.

Automation Is Redefining the Pre-Deal Playbook

Over half (56%) of firms are already automating data collection and analysis to accelerate target screening and prioritization. This signals a clear move toward intelligence-driven dealmaking, where AI tools triage opportunities long before human teams step in.

Automation is no longer a back-office efficiency play, it’s a front-end growth driver. As these systems scale, firms will need CIOs and CTOs who can architect platforms that balance speed with rigor, ensuring decisions are data-informed but still strategically sound.

In other words, the future of private equity will be shaped not only by who finds the deal first, but by who finds it in the smartest fashion.

The Next Frontier: Turning Insight into Operational Impact

Looking ahead, 44% of technology leaders expect AI to have its greatest impact in portfolio performance and value creation, while 33% point to deal sourcing and intelligence. This evolution marks a crucial transition from experimentation to enterprise enablement.

As AI tools mature, leaders will need to ensure that each portfolio company not only adopts these capabilities, but also measures their financial and operational impact. The winners will be those who integrate AI into every stage of the ownership cycle from acquisition through exit.

From Data Compliance to Data Culture

Even with the right tools, lasting transformation depends on one of the hardest shifts to engineer: culture. Building a true data-driven firm requires a collective commitment to data integrity at every level, from deal teams to portfolio operators.

Clean, consistent data is not just an IT deliverable; it’s a behavioral discipline. The firms that succeed are those that embed stewardship into their DNA, creating incentives, accountability, and routines that make data quality everyone’s responsibility. As firms scale, this cultural foundation becomes the multiplier that allows AI investments to sustain momentum and drive enterprise-wide value creation.

Private equity’s next wave of digital value creation depends on leaders who can bridge data, governance, and execution. The firms that succeed will empower their CIOs and CTOs to turn insight into enterprise capability by building smarter, faster, more resilient portfolios.

The difference between buzzword and breakthrough comes down to leadership. For PE firms, the real decision ahead isn’t if AI will drive value creation, it’s whether you have the right CIO or CTO to lead that charge.