01
Deal sourcing and CIM analysis
Associates paste CIMs, financial models, and target-company decks into ChatGPT for synthesis. The contents land in the vendor logs, possibly used for training depending on the account type, and stay there.
AI for Private Equity
AI is already inside your deal flow. The LP DDQ is the question that lands first.
Deal teams paste target-company data into ChatGPT. IR drafts LP letters with Copilot. Portfolio companies run six AI tools each with no governance line connecting them. The next DDQ asks one question: how is AI being used, where does fund and portfolio data go, and who owns the answer. HIP installs that answer before the LP asks.
Where AI is already inside the fund
Four surfaces where AI is already running with no governance line.
Most PE funds we audit have AI in production across four surfaces. None of them are on the IT inventory. Most carry exposure that does not survive a credible LP DDQ.
The pattern is consistent enough that the Audit reads the same across funds: it is not whether AI is there; it is which of these four surfaces is hottest.
02
IC memos and due diligence
Drafting agents accelerate IC packs and DD synthesis. The proprietary deal thesis and target-company financials are now inside model providers whose data terms nobody at the fund has read.
03
LP communications and IR
Quarterly letters, capital call narratives, and fund updates are AI-drafted. LPs reading them have started asking how the drafts are produced. Two have already added AI-disclosure clauses to their side letters.
04
Portfolio company AI sprawl
Portcos buy AI tools at the operator level. The fund has no visibility into which workflows are AI-touched, which vendors hold what data, or which exposure is on the fund’s reputational hook.
What HIP delivers
A defensible answer to the DDQ and operating throughput at the deal team.
01
Full AI inventory across fund and portcos
Every AI tool, account, embedded feature, and API integration mapped to the workflow that runs through it and the data class it touches. Refreshed quarterly under the AI Operating Partner engagement.
02
Governance line LPs can read
A one-document governance posture that holds in a DDQ: approved tools, data-class boundaries, sub-processor list, vendor DPAs, and the named owner of the line. Updated against ILPA and major LP DDQ templates.
03
Throughput plan for deal team and IR
Keep, fix, or kill verdict on every existing tool. Sequenced roadmap to compound deal-team capacity, IR drafting, and DD synthesis inside the governance line, not around it.
04
Portfolio AI cadence
Optional rollout to portcos. The fund installs the same governance template across portfolio companies so AI exposure does not propagate up from the operating layer.
Fit criteria
PE funds that fit cleanly, and the ones that do not.
Strong fit
- Mid-market PE fund with $500M to $5B AUM, or a multi-vehicle GP with similar deployed capital.
- Active deal team, IR function, and a portfolio of 5+ operating companies.
- LPs include institutions whose DDQs already ask about AI usage, or whose next cycle is expected to.
- Leadership wants the AI question answered before it is asked, not after.
Not a fit
- Pre-fund GP or fundless sponsor without an active deal program.
- Funds running zero AI today and with no intent to adopt; the Audit will not find enough surface to justify the engagement.
- GP looking for a vendor to broker AI tools into the fund.
Common questions
What GPs ask before the Audit.
How does this fit alongside our existing operations team or COO?
The AI Operating Audit and Fractional CAIO sit above the technology stack, not inside it. Your operations team or COO continues to own the day-to-day. HIP owns the AI decision layer: what tools are sanctioned, what data class can touch them, what the governance posture is when an LP asks. The Fractional CAIO engagement is one to two days per month of senior AI judgment, not a full-time hire.
Does the Audit cover portfolio companies too?
Optional and scoped. The base Audit covers the fund (deal team, IR, back office). Most funds extend it to portcos in a second phase once the fund-level governance is in place. The portfolio extension is priced per portco depending on size and existing AI footprint.
Will LPs see the output?
Yes, by design. The governance posture installed by the Audit is built to be DDQ-ready. The full inventory and roadmap stay internal; the policy and posture documents are designed to be shared with LPs, auditors, or regulators when asked.
How long does the Audit take and what does it cost?
Two to six weeks depending on fund size and portfolio extension. Standard fund-only Audit is from $15,000. The Fractional CAIO retainer that typically follows is quoted in the Audit readout based on operating surface and entity count.
More sectors
Other regulated sectors where HIP fits.
Start
The Audit pays for itself either way. Apply to work with HIP.
Every engagement begins with a short fit review and the AI Operating Audit. Most GPs continue into the AI Operating Partner relationship from there. If there is not strong mutual fit, we tell you directly.