AI boosts appetite for M&A deals

Artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere except inside our tiny human brains, although that may not be off-limits, either.

The M&A landscape is no exception. The desire to have a piece of AI is driving M&A demand, and even evolving the dealmaking process itself, experts told CFO Brew.

Across industries, organizations are under pressure to transform through AI and boost both productivity and profitability, according to Josh Putnam, EY-Parthenon global and Americas corporate finance leader.

“C-suite execs learn that organic transformation is a time-consuming task, particularly when you're looking at technology, when you’re trying to stay ahead of trends, and when you’re trying to stay ahead of revenue growth and client pricing,” Putnam told CFO Brew.

The companies looking to adapt quickly have, in the last year or so, started “to use M&A as really part of that transformation journey, to speed up the process,” he added.

AI is supercharging dealmaking particularly in the technology sector, and tech M&A saw a 77% uptick in deal value last year, thanks to AI mega deals such as Google’s $32 billion acquisition of Wiz, according to a December report from Bain & Co. The largest announced deal for 2026 so far is easily the SpaceX-xAI merger.

Buying. Software developers are feeling the pressure to augment their products with AI, according to Chris Miorin, COO of supply chain risk platform developer apexanalytix.

“It's a question of, do you have a team and capital available to build something yourself or do you need to go buy it?” Miorin told CFO Brew. If a company opts for the M&A route, it’s tasked with accurately valuing the target AI company, he said. I “I think that's the problem we're all trying to solve, is organic versus inorganic, and then if inorganic, [setting] reasonable valuation expectations.”

To be clear, companies’ seeking out AI is not solely responsible for the uptick in M&A intent. Putnam said external factors are at play, such as an economy that’s characterized by asset appreciation, consumer spending, and AI investment (there it is again). Companies may also pursue a deal to mitigate supply chain or geopolitical risks.

AI may co-pilot your next deal. The technology isn’t just driving M&A interest.

Miorin provided a laundry list of the ways AI might be able to benefit corporate dealmakers: AI can help them think through the “first level of strategy development” before they bring in a consultant to take a deeper dive into strategy and determine what makes the most business sense, he said.

Developing a pipeline “becomes very fast and very detailed,” allowing companies to reach deep into the middle markets—a task that would normally require investment bankers with specialized industry knowledge.

AI can also automate outreach efforts, quickly digest data of an acquisition target, and even take a “first pass on marking up legal documents,” Miorin added.

“I think at this point you can integrate AI into every part of the inorganic growth strategy,” Miorin said.