Building a PE-Native AI Foundation in Five Weeks
IT Ally® helped a lower middle market PE firm move from inconsistent AI adoption to a governed enterprise environment, firmwide training, standardized workflows, and a sequenced AI roadmap in five weeks.
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Context
A 14-person lower middle market private equity firm had already begun experimenting with AI and recognized that it would increasingly affect how the team sourced, screened, and managed investments.
The firm had access to a team-tier LLM platform, but adoption and results varied significantly. Some professionals were using AI every day while others had tried it once and stopped. Leadership was also evaluating whether it had the right platform and service tier.
The firm wanted to build the capability deliberately rather than allow AI adoption to develop one subscription and one user at a time.
Assessment
IT Ally® worked across the deal team and back office to understand current AI usage, workflows, platform requirements, governance needs, and opportunities for broader adoption.
The assessment showed that access wasn’t the core problem. The firm needed the right enterprise environment, stronger governance, a common level of AI fluency, and a practical plan for what to do next.
Rather than recommending another platform, IT Ally® determined that the firm should stay with its existing vendor and move from the team tier to enterprise. IT Ally® led procurement and configuration, including Microsoft 365 SSO integration and the implementation of centralized user management, audit, and retention controls.
All 14 professionals, from partners through back office, received practical AI and prompt training. IT Ally also developed a prompt library around the firm’s actual workflows, including deal prospecting and market research.
The engagement concluded with a written roadmap covering workflow automation, portfolio company applications, and integration opportunities, sequenced by leverage, dependencies, and readiness.
The Results
IT Ally led ERP modernization, vendor selection, and governance as a fractional CTO.
The firm did not need another AI platform. It needed the right version of what it already had, configured properly, with a team that knew how to use it and a clear plan for what to do next. All four were in place within five weeks.