The Opportunity

AI Is the Highest-Leverage Value Creation Play Available Today

Every PE firm talks about operational improvement. Most rely on the same playbooks: headcount optimization, procurement consolidation, pricing adjustments. AI opens an entirely new vector for EBITDA creation—one that compounds over the hold period and creates a differentiated story for buyers.

The challenge isn't the technology. It's that 95% of AI implementations fail without sustained human attention after deployment. That's the gap we fill.

5–25%
Documented EBITDA improvement potential
95%
AI pilots fail without stewardship
84%
PE funds expect AI to transform operations

Why Most AI Initiatives Fail in Portfolio Companies

×Consultants implement and leave—no one maintains the systems
×Portco management teams are too busy running the business
×AI agents need continuous prompt refinement as business evolves
×Without structured quality governance, AI output quality degrades within months
×No one documents the EBITDA impact for the exit narrative
Our Fractional AI Agent Managers solve every one of these problems.
How It Works

From Deployment to Documented Value Creation

We work directly with your portfolio company leadership while keeping your deal team informed on EBITDA impact.

01

Portfolio Assessment

We review your portfolio to identify which companies have the highest AI upside based on operational complexity, headcount, and process maturity.

Fund Level
02

Discovery Day

An intensive on-site immersion with portco leadership. We map every workflow and identify the highest-impact AI opportunities.

Portco Level
03

AI Deployment

We implement AI agents across priority workflows with measurable baselines and KPI benchmarks from day one.

2–4 Months
04

Ongoing Stewardship

A dedicated Fractional AI Agent Manager provides sustained oversight under a documented quality governance framework—continuously improving existing workflows while identifying the next high-value implementation across the portfolio.

Monthly
05

Exit-Ready Documentation

Documented EBITDA improvements with auditable governance trails, AI capability narrative, and operational efficiency metrics that strengthen your exit story and support premium valuations.

Ongoing
Value Creation

A Representative Portco Example

Consider a $42M revenue manufacturing company with $6.3M EBITDA. After 18 months of AI implementation and ongoing Agent Manager stewardship:

Starting EBITDA$6.3M
AI-Driven EBITDA Improvement+$950K
New EBITDA$7.25M
Valuation Uplift (at 5x multiple)+$4.75M

Representative example. Actual results vary by company, industry, and operational complexity.

What Your Deal Team Gets

Monthly EBITDA impact reporting per portco
Quarterly portfolio-level AI value creation summary
Documented operational improvement narrative for CIMs
AI capability assessment for new acquisitions
Exit-ready technology and process documentation
Auditable QA governance trails that prove AI-driven improvements are sustainable post-close

We become an extension of your value creation team—not another vendor sending invoices.

Why Fractional

The Right Model for Portfolio Companies

Right-Sized for the Lower Middle Market

Your portcos don't need a $500K AI consulting engagement. They need 10–15 hours per month of dedicated, ongoing expertise.

Aligned to Your Hold Period

We're not building a forever relationship—we're creating documented value during the years that matter most. Results compound over the hold.

Scalable Across Your Portfolio

Each portfolio company gets dedicated AI management without the cost of a full-time AI hire. As you see results, we scale across additional companies without restarting from scratch.

We Handle the Hard Part

Portco management teams don't have the bandwidth or expertise for AI stewardship. We embed alongside them so they can focus on running the business.

Portfolio-Wide AI Leadership

One AI Partner Across Your Entire Portfolio

A full-time Chief AI Officer costs $350K+ and serves one company. We serve your whole portfolio — and the learnings compound.

01

Cross-Portfolio Intelligence

What works at one portco gets deployed to the next. Automation playbooks, prompt libraries, and integration patterns transfer across your holdings — accelerating time-to-value at each new company.

02

Consistent Reporting to the Fund

One partner, one framework, one set of KPIs. You get a unified view of AI-driven EBITDA improvement across the portfolio — without reconciling five different vendors' metrics.

03

Faster Deployment at New Acquisitions

When you close a new deal, we already know your standards. We run a Discovery Day within 30 days of close and start implementation immediately — no RFP, no vendor search, no ramp-up.

04

Right-Sized for the Middle Market

Your portcos are $10M–$300M companies. They don't need a $350K CAIO and they can't support enterprise AI platforms. They need hands-on operators who understand their scale.

"A CAIO serves one company. We serve your portfolio — and every engagement makes the next one faster."

Let's discuss your portfolio.

We'll walk through which portcos have the highest AI upside and what documented EBITDA improvement could look like across your fund.