Over 90% of private equity firms believe AI will disrupt their sector by 2024

Intertrust, a global leader in providing expert administrative services to clients operating and investing in the international business environment, interviewed private equity professionals across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia to identify the value-add delivered by new technologies now and in the future.

According to the research, private equity firms are acutely aware of the impact digital innovation will have on their sector, particularly in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain.

Over 90% believe AI is likely to have the biggest transformational impact on the sector. This is almost a fifth higher than the industry average of 77%. Over a third (37%) of respondents to the survey said that blockchain, AI and robotics are already being adopted in the industry and will become more widespread in the near future.

56% of respondents believe digital innovation is currently having the biggest impact on the back office, by generating greater operational efficiencies. 37% say innovative technology is also being deployed to speed up the due diligence process when completing transactions.

Table 1: Where private equity firms believe digital innovation is having the greatest impact

Michael Johnson, Director of Fund Services, Intertrust says: “The findings of our survey reflect growing levels of interest in using AI for handling large volumes of investor queries more efficiently by recognising questions being asked and recommending responses. This will also introduce more standardized responses, further reducing risk. Additionally, there is likely to be an emerging desire for firms to favour the use of blockchain for KYC-related activities.

“Over the next five years there is set to be huge demand for new Regtech solutions, which is recognised by nearly half of all respondents. New Regtech solutions bring previously unforeseen levels of automation to the regulatory compliance process, including reporting and monitoring. Often provided as a software as a service (SaaS) model, Regtech solutions are designed to boost transparency and support compliance with regulation such as KYC.”