At our inaugural Leaders in Private Markets Summit in New York City, Aztec Group Managing Director – Markets, James Gow and Adam Hofmann, Principal, Generative AI Strategy & Implementation at Elixirr, discussed some of the technology solutions GPs are currently using to support their processes, before exploring some of the tools being developed that could revolutionize our industry.
The conference brought together over 50 C-suite leaders from New York’s private markets community, with the discussion exploring the current use cases of tech and artificial intelligence (AI) within the industry, and what leaders can expect to be available to them in the years ahead. The reality is, AI and new technology is already being used to reshape the way GPs source deals, manage investor relationships, facilitate transactions, scale their business and optimize day-to-day operations, but this is set to accelerate quickly in the years ahead.
One of the recurring comments in New York centered around trust, between stakeholders, between partners, and – going forwards – between users, technology and AI. It’s imperative that the scope of relationships expands to include those that will be built between people and the AI personas which become integral to their businesses and, by extension, their lives.
1. Deal sourcing and discovery – advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI-driven insights can help managers analyze complex data sets more efficiently, enabling faster and more informed investment decisions. The integration of large language models (LLMs) with traditional data providers allows for natural language querying of complex datasets, reducing initial screening time and providing more nuanced pattern recognition.
2. Investor relationships – AI can simplify and streamline the investor onboarding process, remove administrative burdens, and optimize investor reporting and documentation. The emergence of online, digital marketplaces for private fund managers will bring together the investment identification process and investors into one place, enhancing communication and the identification, screening and ongoing tracking of prospective investors.
3. Transaction facilitation – AI is reshaping transaction facilitation by automating due diligence processes and creating standardized initial assessment reports. AI-powered due diligence platforms can automate a significant portion of preliminary company analysis by scraping public data, social media, and regulatory filings. This automation helps in making faster and more informed investment decisions, capitalizing on the opportunities of the digital marketplace.
4. Business scalability – AI and technology can support business scalability by automating routine compliance tasks, managing regulatory filings, and capturing and distributing organizational expertise. AI-powered virtual teams can manage entire operational functions with minimal human oversight, fundamentally changing organizational structures and enabling firms to scale assets under management (AUM) without proportional headcount growth.
5. Day-to-day operations – AI agents will amplify individual productivity, allowing professionals to perform tasks at higher levels. Smart workflows will automate routine compliance tasks and deadlines, while intelligent knowledge management systems will enable rapid scaling without loss of institutional knowledge. Autonomous operations platforms will handle routine fund administration tasks, allowing firms to scale operations globally without traditional management hierarchies.
The golden thread through all this transformative technology, leveraging the non-human capabilities of our digitally connected world only operate optimally if the human relationships that inform them are built on trust. These relationships must be created and maintained through honest communication, transparency, reliability, and the ethical use of technology.
If you’d like to discuss any of the solutions we already have or to discuss your specific needs, please contact James directly.
To discover for yourself what makes us the bright alternative and how we can support, please contact James Gow, our Group Managing Director - Markets.
