Commercial due diligence
Testing a target’s market position when the claimed advantage rests on a model, a dataset or an automated process.
Notes
Notes.
Written answers to questions we are asked repeatedly: on due diligence, on value creation, and on commercialisation, where artificial intelligence, automation and data bear upon a private-market decision.
In short
These notes set out how we approach recurring questions in private markets: what to test in commercial, technical, vendor and operational due diligence; how automation belongs in a value creation plan; what a data strategy and a readiness assessment should establish; and what commercialisation requires before anything is built. They describe method rather than client work, which is confidential.
The Notes
Technical due diligence
What to examine when a target’s value rests on models and data: provenance, model risk, provider dependence and cost to serve.
Vendor due diligence
The seller-commissioned report and the examination of suppliers: data terms, retention, training use, lock-in and exit.
Operational due diligence
Reading a business as a sequence of process steps, and assessing automation potential before it is promised in a plan.
Value creation
How artificial intelligence and automation belong in a value creation plan, and the evidence an operating partner should demand.
Data strategy
Naming the decisions first, using the operational records a business already holds, and keeping governance proportionate.
AI readiness
Five things a readiness assessment should establish before anything is built, and why a maturity score is not one of them.
Family offices
How this work differs for a family office, where it applies across operating businesses and real assets, and how discretion is kept.
Commercialisation
Stating the problem precisely before anything is built, the role of the commercial interface, and when the answer is not to build.
The owner’s audit
Why an owner commissions an audit rather than buys a vendor: the four elements, the nine chapters, the tiers by input depth, and the claim boundary.
Engagement
Most of our work begins with an introduction, and we are equally glad to hear from you directly. Every engagement is senior-led and conducted in strict confidence. We reply personally to every enquiry; write to [email protected].