AI Features vs. AI Strategy: What Private Equity Needs to Ask Before the Next Deal

Private equity is pouring capital into AI-enabled companies. But there's a question that doesn't get asked enough during diligence: does this company have an AI strategy, or does it have AI features?

Features are easy to replicate. Strategy isn't. A real AI strategy is embedded in the operating model. It shapes how the company makes decisions, allocates resources, builds institutional knowledge, and creates defensibility over time.

If the AI layer can be stripped out and the business looks the same underneath, what you're investing in isn't an AI company.