Private Equity Insights Q1 2026

4 min read

Q1 2026

Technology-driven value creation is redefining PE. This issue of Private Equity Insights examines where growth is accelerating and why operational modernization is critical to portfolio performance. We also explore how AI is reshaping diligence and why agile budgeting is essential to keep up with rapidly changing business needs. We close by considering the privacy risks introduced by digital agents and the evolving expectations around AI-driven ROI.

In this issue:

Top risks and growth priorities: Highlights from Protiviti’s Private Equity Top Risks Survey Brief reveal where growth is accelerating and where challenges persist, including legacy infrastructure and workforce readiness concerns. PE leaders and their portfolio companies are navigating AI’s impact, emerging risks and near-term investment priorities.
AI due diligence: As AI becomes embedded in products and processes, the stakes in M&A and investment decisions continue to rise. Traditional diligence focused on financials, operations and technology is no longer sufficient to assess the value, scalability and risk of AI-enabled businesses.
Agile budgeting: Budgeting and forecasting processes are no longer routine financial compliance exercises. These processes are a strategic discipline to set targets, allocate resources, and establish goals that drive both financial discipline and shrewd business decisions.
Secure AI: AI is rapidly reshaping the enterprise landscape, promising a leap in productivity and efficiency. Yet, as organizations rush to deploy these digital agents, they risk unleashing forces they do not fully understand or control.
AI ROI: 2026 marks the shift from AI readiness to ROI reckoning. AI must be treated as a strategic capability instead of a perpetual pilot.

Please reach out via email or LinkedIn to discuss your own business risks or if you have any questions.

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Featured Insights

Due Diligence Reimagined: AI’s Impact on Valuations

AI is fundamentally reshaping how companies innovate, operate, and compete. For a PE firm assessing the value of a portfolio company or any enterprise, due diligence must include — and even hinges on — the prospect’s AI maturity and capabilities, including potential disruption to existing business models.

Deploy Agile Budgeting and Forecasting to Accelerate Value Creation

The pace of change in today’s business and trade environment has condensed traditional decision cycles due to market and regulatory volatility, competitive pressures, AI-driven productivity shifts, and supply chain complexity. Organisations can no longer afford static budgets or inflexible forecasts. Agility is essential. Accurate forecasts, disciplined reporting and confidence in earnings quality not only reassure stakeholders but also create a foundation to turn disruption into opportunity.

Cybersecurity and Resiliency in the Age of AI: Taming the Digital Genie Before It Gossips

The productivity promise of AI is real, but so is the privacy peril, and the stakes have never been higher. The old paradigms of cybersecurity, built around human users and their digital identities, are crumbling in the face of autonomous AI agents that operate with increasing independence.

When AI Readiness Meets ROI Reckoning

PE leaders must demonstrate ROI, enhance governance and operationalise AI at scale or risk falling behind competitively. Our insights outline the essential lessons from thousands of leaders on what it takes to succeed in 2026.

Connect With Us Live

Ready for Anything : April 16, 2026 | 4–6 PM EDT | Boston

Join Protiviti and Fidelity for a high impact panel exploring IPO and broader transaction readiness—from scaling operations to governance and execution. Designed for executives, investors, and advisors. Limited attendance — reach out for details.

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Private Equity