M&A SoCal Unpacks the State of AI in Dealmaking
Panelists at this year’s ACG Los Angeles M&A SoCal dove deep into the evolution of AI in dealmaking, often drawing similar conclusions: Though the technology has potential, it’s far from replacing human talent.
In between more than 5,500 DealSource meetings, networking on the DealSource patio, and exclusive cocktail hours, attendees of last week’s ACG Los Angeles M&A SoCal conference experienced two days of lively panel discussions on the most impactful trends shaping middle-market M&A today.
With a crowd of about 1,200, the event’s attendees and speakers largely expressed confidence in the year ahead, reporting an uptick in transaction activity over the last 90 days.
Held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, this year’s M&A SoCal included programming with a heavy focus on the white-hot topic of artificial intelligence. As AI’s evolution accelerates, the challenge of understanding which tools can adequately address the right pain points and bottlenecks has never been larger for dealmakers.
Yet even as the M&A community was urged to prepare for incoming generative AI (genAI) and agentic AI innovations, experts speaking at M&A South also brought attention to the continued importance of human talent. AI may be at the forefront of dealmakers’ minds, but humans remain key to preparing for the future of M&A.
Event Recap
WHAT: M&A SoCal
WHEN: Sept. 15-17, 2025
WHERE: The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, CA
THE TAKEAWAY: Programming unpacked the rapidly evolving AI tools at dealmakers’ disposal, leading to lively discussions on the continued importance of human capital in M&A.
A Deep Dive into AI
M&A SoCal dedicated its panel programming on Monday entirely to AI with AI CON, a series of panels throughout the day that brought the crowd up to speed on how the technology continues to evolve and shape dealmaking.
In many ways, speakers said, AI is already making progress at addressing some of dealmakers’ biggest points of friction across deal sourcing, deal execution, post-merger integration, and other workflows.
Progress made in agentic AI capabilities can offer a technological “partner” for dealmakers when it comes to the compliance side of M&A, noted one panelist on the “The Future of AI in Deal-Making: From Intelligence to Integration” panel. Experts speaking on the “Future of M&A – Using AI Agents” panel also highlighted the opportunity for AI to boost efficiencies in deal sourcing and valuation, with the technology able to arm professionals with more robust data and analysis on potential acquisition targets.
But many of the experts on Monday’s panels also highlighted the continued challenges firms face in adopting a technology that is evolving so rapidly.
The ability to aggregate and standardize data across platforms within the enterprise remains a key hurdle. Panelists also pointed to concerns around investing in an AI tool, only for it to become obsolete a year later once a more advanced solution emerges from innovators.
With the technology advancing at a dizzying pace, experts emphasized that dealmakers should stay educated and jump in on AI early, or risk facing even larger adoption hurdles further down the road.
Focusing on data quality, taking more incremental steps to AI transformation through smaller investments, and placing AI tools in the hands of the associates who are most in need of solutions to pain points in their day-to-day workflows were some of the key steps panelists recommended dealmakers take today, in order to prepare for the AI of tomorrow.
Unlocking Value with Humans
Despite the middle-market M&A community’s heavy focus on AI—and some discussion about whether the technology will replace the need for human talent—panelists assured M&A SoCal attendees that humans remain vital to the dealmaking process, even as AI tools become more sophisticated.
Even during Monday’s fireside chat, “The Robotic Colleague: How AI Will Redefine Workplaces,” experts emphasized just how challenging it can be for AI-enhanced robots to mimic human movements and balance, let alone replace humans in manual tasks.
One panelist on the “Data to Dollars: Unlocking Transaction Value Through AI” panel cited MIT data that reveals 95% of genAI pilots deployed within businesses ultimately fail.
Today, AI in the M&A process has gained the greatest traction in places like enterprise search or employee onboarding. The technology should initially be seen as an assistant to employees, experts on the panel said. Once talent grows more comfortable with the tool, they can explore ways to deepen adoption of AI within a single workflow. Incremental steps to adoption, rather than expectations for an all-encompassing AI transformation, will lead to the greatest successes, and ensure human talent benefits from the tool.
Tuesday’s panel, “The Human Side of Due Diligence,” held a particularly poignant discussion about the continued importance of human capital. When it comes to mitigating post-merger risk, talent and company culture within a portfolio company remain essential priorities for sponsors. Having the right team in place, as well as an alignment in company culture, the panelists said, is paramount to achieving growth and value creation plans.
And when it comes to AI in talent and executive leadership sourcing, panelists agreed that the technology’s impact so far is more of a “work in progress.” The technology may be able to assist with market trend analysis or presentation creation, but so far remains a support tool to human capital, not yet a replacement.
Carolyn Vallejo is ACG’s Digital Editor.
Middle Market Growth is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit acg.org.
