The rise of generative AI
From Hype to Value
Following the launch of ChatGPT and other alternatives into the mainstream, Generative AI has rightly gained a huge level of interest. Our latest report states 60% of middle market businesses believe it will increase their productivity with 82% of respondents stating that they are already at least experimenting with it.
When looking at the potential impact of Generative AI on the transaction environment, it is helpful to compare it to another influential trend of recent times, data analytics. Within a relatively short period of time, data analytics has emerged as a truly transformational tool to add value to a transaction.
The more we understand about the strengths of weaknesses of generative AI, the faster we can progress along the traditional ‘hype cycle’ curve of implementing new technologies and start unlocking value for our clients.
On the recent successful sale of BrightBridge Solutions, a cloud and CRM subscription, implementation, and support services specialist, to FPE Capital, RSM effectively used data analytics to dynamically present the key selling messages of the business to buyers using an interactive dashboard. This enabled bidders to interact with the data and really bring the equity story to life.
The journey of data analytics from a buzz word to a real value driver over the last few years has gone from at first being used to automate and streamline processes, enabling users to do what they already did, but more efficiently to driving increased value through the creation of dynamic outputs that were not possible without the use of data analytics.
This progression of data analytics from an efficiency tool into value driver is applicable to the current trend in AI and Generative AI we see today. Through tools such as Microsoft Copilot and Bing Chat Enterprise, users can drive substantial productivity gains in day-to-day tasks such as summarising reports and calls; highlighting and attributing action points to the relevant people; reviewing high volumes of contracts to extract key terms and drafting buyer research. The more we understand about the strengths of weaknesses of generative AI, the faster we can progress along the traditional ‘hype cycle’ curve of implementing new technologies and start unlocking value for our clients.
The evolution from productivity benefits into value drivers is well underway. Whilst there are important governance and guardrails considerations to be keep in mind, there is no doubt that the client value that will be generated will quickly become transformational.
