lyr3: People, Data, Process
AI transformation is all about people
Nate B. Jones argued this week: label something a pilot and it gets fewer resources, de-risked goals, and no path to production. His estimate is that enterprise AI is "about 20% of technology, probably, and 80% of people problem," and his read on the lab programs is blunt: "you can't just stick a raw LLM into an enterprise and expect…
Read→Three Layers of AI Transformation Acceleration
Most AI programs I see in the middle market start with a tool. Someone buys seats, runs a pilot, waits for a number to move. The other trend is hiring a consultant to come in and build a tool. This may give a story to the board or lenders, but it dodges the goal, AI acceleration.
Longer PE holds may mean doing what's hard
Hold times are getting longer and exit multiples are softening. Expecting to get more for the same company later is wishful thinking. There is an upside. A longer hold gives you time to transform what the company actually is, and that can change the multiple calculation completely.
mdEdit - Repo
mdEdit is a local-first markdown editor for macOS with a twist: the documents you have open are directly readable and editable by AI over a local MCP connection — no cloud in between, and every AI edit happens right on your screen. It pairs a clean, iA Writer-inspired writing surface with fully native macOS chrome, live preview, and stale-write protection so the AI never clobbers your typing. You can download the notarized app free, or grab the source on GitHub (MIT licensed) and build your own.
Half of Lower-Middle-Market PE Firms Have No Visible AI Strategy
No AI roles open. No AI or digital staff. No AI value creation. No recognition of AI at all. That this described half of the firms in our research was surprising.
Your Data Is Your AI Advantage, Keep it
Satya Nadella's latest essay is getting a lot of buzz. For the middle market, it oversells the problem to pitch the fix.
Weekend Listens: Three podcasts for your weekend PE listening pleasure
#Private Equity is Coming For Your 401(k) — Private Equity Funcast, Jul 1 Ted Seides and PitchBook's Nizar Tarhuni on the push to open retail 401(k)s to private assets. The upside, the real risks, and why "democratizing" private equity is harder than the headlines suggest. Blunt and data-backed. #What LPs Are Looking for in Defence-Related PE Strategies — Private Equity Spotlight (PEI), Jul 2 PEI's Adam Leigh on the money rushing into defence and security. How LPs are underwriting the theme, where the real opportunity sits, and where it is just a hot label. How Opendoor, Datadog, and PwC Are Using AI in Finance — Run the Numbers, Jul 2 #Finance leaders on what AI actually does in the numbers function today. No hype. Practical: what to build, what to buy, and why waiting keeps getting more expensive.
AI Impact from the Ops seat
The AI headlines are about models, operators talk impact. The impact of AI extends beyond just numbers, it raises a fundamental question, how many people does it take to run a company.
Every CIM Says AI Now
On a recent Private Equity Funcast, ParkerGale partners Devin Mathews and Jim Milbery spent an episode on a problem every middle-market buyer now shares. Every CIM that crosses the desk claims AI.
$33 in incremental AI Spend
That's what it costs to run a full AI B2B marketing engine for a client right now. Content for LinkedIn. Email. Blog. SEO. Targeting and Pipeline prep for the sales team.
Let’s figure out what AI
actually looks like for you
No pitch deck. A conversation about your portfolio, your thesis, and whether I can move the numbers.
Work with me