PE boards don’t care about your AI strategy.
Every other AI conversation in the boardroom: Strategy, data, governance, talent, ethics is downstream of that single question. I've been in those meetings, the pattern is consistent.
PE boards don't care about your AI strategy. They care about one question.
"Where's the EBITDA impact?"
Every other AI conversation in the boardroom: Strategy, data, governance, talent, ethics is downstream of that single question. I've been in those meetings, the pattern is consistent.
PE boards view AI through one lens: value creation. Cost savings. Revenue growth. Margin expansion. They need a concrete line of sight from AI spend to P&L impact.
There are only two monetary metrics for AI investments:
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Reducing cost
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Increasing revenue
If it doesn't touch the P&L, it's not strategy. It's what people are calling "Innovation Theater."
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Start with the P&L, not the technology. Identify the top 3-5 financial levers the business cares about. Work backward to where AI can move them.
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Reshape before you invent. Enterprises rarely capture AI value without adjusting their operating model. Redesign workflows and roles to capture real productivity gains. The real value almost never comes from bolting an AI chatbot onto existing processes, it takes genuine changes to how the organization works.
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Get every CXO to put skin in the game. AI at scale is not a CIO/CTO solo project. The CFO owns the financial model. The COO owns the process changes. The CHRO owns the workforce transition. Every executive needs a piece of it, this is a team sport, not a hero's journey.
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Categorize every AI initiative by value type: Employee efficiency (cost), Product/process ROI (margin), or Strategic value (new revenue). Be honest about which bucket each one falls into. A critical step for prioritization.
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Kill the pilots that can't trace to outcomes. If you can't articulate the P&L impact in one sentence, it's not ready for investment.
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Report in dollars, not adoption. "80% adoption" or "30% faster" doens’t mean much, "$X added to revenue" or "$Y removed from cost base is music to their ears."
Productivity metrics do not automatically translate to direct financial impact. One gets you a polite nod, the other gets a seat at the strategy table.
PE-backed companies don't have the luxury of "let's see where this goes." The clock is always ticking toward the next value creation milestone.
Are your AI conversations focused on EBITDA impact, or still circling around adoption metrics? If you are going through this, I’d be happy to connect and compare notes.