CRISP™ 11- M&A Transactions and AI: Today and Tomorrow

Recap and Intro

So far, the M&A execution topics covered in this series have been:

1. Individual contributors are the key to success
2. M&A transactions are complicated, but with known parameters
3. Miscommunication is the largest single contributor to execution issues
4. Classic approaches are not communication-centric
5. Accountability, clarity and efficiency (ACE) are necessary for trouble-free execution
6. The CRISP™ Method embeds ACE using its Nexus Point approach
7. IMO Role and Challenges
8. Baked in accountability
9. Easy resource allocation
10. Trouble-free horizontal and vertical scaling

Where M&A transactions are concerned, AI can be a powerful tool. But it is not as simple as the GPT providers say it is. This post will explain how AI can be used over the entire spectrum of transaction activities today, as well as how the CRISP™ Method uniquely lays the foundation for AI use tomorrow.

Introduction to AI in an M&A context

If you are new to AI there is one very important information systems concept that is more true today than it was when it was first coined 60+ years ago: Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO). While there’s been a lot of discussion of AI’s propensity to “hallucinate”, the fact is if the AI platform you use was trained on or is using faulty data or asked to use non-existent data, the results will not just be wrong, they will be deceptively wrong. Why?

GPT tools are designed to give answers to humans that sound authoritative, regardless of the accuracy or truth of the response.

So with practically everybody touting AI capability in the M&A product and service space, the necessity to scrutinize not just the answers you are getting, but the sources of material on which the results are based, is paramount. This is especially true when the documents are not known collections of files, like contracts or invoices submitted by an acquisition target during due diligence.

Effectively using AI to help execute an entire transaction, from start to finish, means relying on data or documents that may not be readily at hand or available at all. As an example, think of trying to improve resource allocation using incomplete or inaccurate labor and deliverable reporting information.

Understandably, most organizations are cross-functionally inconsistent when it comes to time recording; functional units performing different day-to-day work may not use the same timekeeping platform or method. That can be an issue when introducing AI into the mix. Ask anyone who has been tasked with preparing data for training AI and the effort and expense of making that data “digestible” becomes clear.

And that’s also where CRISP™’s Key Artifacts can be most helpful.

The Role of M&A Data and AI Beyond Due Diligence

While the data schemas in each CRISP™ Key Artifact are designed to reveal important information using simple features of tools you’re familiar with, like spreadsheet sorting and filtering, they also provide consistent, fact-based data for use in any AI GPT tool. The top three use cases are:

1. Identifying high-impact contributors and deliverables during key phases of integration.
2. Automating repetitive data management tasks, freeing up contributors for strategic activities.
3. Improving accuracy and speed in compliance and regulatory reporting.

With CRISP™, these three use cases can be delivered without having to resort to AI.

But if you wanted to, the Nexus Point Exchange (NPX) combined with Purchase and Sale artifacts can be the foundation for any AI-driven execution-based decision-making, not just for a single deal but for multiple transactions over time. The power of AI to identify patterns and relationships relies on high quality data.

Practical AI Applications in M&A Integrations

Using data collected with repeated use of the NPX positions any organization so that using AI can accomplish the following:

1. Predictive Analytics: Anticipating bottlenecks and resource needs weeks or even months before issues arise.
2. Intelligent Recommendations: Suggesting optimal resource allocation and deliverable prioritization before and during deal execution based on actual performance.
3. Automated Reporting: Real-time insights and updates without any manual input, reducing or eliminating previous administrative effort.

Unless you are lucky enough to have the information the NPX contains at hand today, consider the effort it would take for your organization to implement solutions that achieved what’s described above. With the right data, AI can be a powerful influence on the optimization of deal execution.

Benefits of AI Integration using CRISP™ data

In addition to the items above, AI can materially enhance CRISP™’s core principles:

• Accountability: AI-generated deliverable reminders and escalations ensure deliverable ownership is never in question, with a literal and implicit “chain-of-custody”.
• Clarity: In addition to the visibility an IMO can enjoy, more precise data insights for contributors also are available. A Finance SME can query an AI that uses the NPX to understand precisely what deliverables the entire Finance department needs and is producing.
• Efficiency: Where enterprise process and policy dictate a less that straight-line communication approach, AI can streamline workflows and eliminate redundancies to reduce hand-offs and delays.

Summary

Using AI to effectively to execute M&A transactions can be greatly simplified if the underlying data structures and protocols represented by the CRISP™ Method and Key Artifacts are in place. CRISP™’s AI-ready architecture reduces the development and maintenance cost associated with initiative-related data collection and prep, saving time and money with an ROI that increases with each transaction.

In preparation for the formal January release, the next post in this series describes the major components of CRISP™, how it’s delivered and licensed, and a CRISP™ trained AI tool to see if the Method would benefit your organization.

Thanks for reading! If this post has sparked any new ideas or questions about how to optimize your M&A integrations, I invite you to join one of my live intro sessions. Each session is 30 minutes and limited to 2 participants for an interactive, in-depth look at how the CRISP™ method can make your next integration faster, better, and more efficient.

📅 Register here -> CRISP™ Intro Sessions
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Let’s continue the conversation and dive deeper into a transformative approach to successful M&A execution!

CRISP™ is a pending trademark of Exertus, Inc.