M&A Due Diligence Acceleration

In one of the most prominent examples of AI-accelerated due diligence, a major cryptocurrency exchange used AI to complete quantitative due diligence on a $1.5 billion acquisition of a retail futures trading platform in 2025. As reported by Business Insider and confirmed by the acquirer's vice president of strategy, the exchange partnered with an AI diligence platform that processed company financials, operating ledgers, and customer metrics, generating a comprehensive report within 24 hours. The work would have typically required a team of six employees working over a period of weeks. The AI platform validated the target's customer growth, revenue per user trends, and client retention metrics, giving the acquirer confidence to complete the total deal timeline in five to six weeks. The acquirer's VP of strategy stated that the AI platform had become a core part of the corporate development process across multiple subsequent acquisitions.

Broader adoption data confirms this trend is accelerating. According to Deloitte's 2025 M&A Generative AI Study of 1,000 senior corporate and private equity leaders, 86% of responding organizations have integrated generative AI into M&A workflows, with 65% having done so within the past year. Of those with moderate to high adoption, the majority use generative AI for target identification and due diligence. A 2025 Bain and Company survey of more than 300 M&A practitioners found that 21% currently use generative AI for M&A, while more than 60% of interviewed private equity firms use at least one AI tool to improve sourcing, screening, or diligence. Bain projects that generative AI adoption among deal teams will surge from 16% in 2023 to 80% by 2028.