who we work with: private equity.

AI value that
survives diligence.

AI spend is rising across portfolios, but too little of it is reaching EBITDA. We lead with the P&L, not the technology: define the value in a named portfolio company, deliver it, and measure it.

in short.

Lumo works with private equity value-creation teams and portfolio companies to turn AI spend into profit that survives diligence: a fixed-price review for a named portfolio company, then delivery linked to the value-creation plan.

why now.

AI brings value creation forward in the hold.

Hold periods are extending, and sponsors need stronger profit growth to hit their returns. AI now works on both sides of the value creation plan. On cost, it consolidates back-office work and lifts margin without adding headcount. On revenue, it frees capacity to sell more, price better and launch service lines that were not viable before.

Most portfolio AI plans still under-deliver, for the same reason corporate ones do: the value was never defined, the processes never changed and the organisation not enabled.

A business bought today will be judged on its AI position by the time it is sold. The question for an investment team is which portfolio companies are furthest behind, and what closing the gap is worth in both margin and growth.

where you are.

Three starting points.

no portfolio programme yet.

Start with a portfolio scan.

A scan across the portfolio shows which companies are furthest from the AI readiness their value-creation plan assumes.

a programme in motion.

Support the person accountable for it.

Where someone already owns the portfolio's AI answer, we work as their delivery arm: testing the value assumptions in the plan and carrying the use cases into portfolio companies.

a platform already built.

Reach the companies it hasn't.

Where a central programme exists, we take it into portfolio companies it hasn't reached yet, or deliver alongside it where the companies lack the capacity to do it themselves.

the first engagement.

Our value review methodology.

A four-week engagement moving from "where could AI pay?" to a costed plan the board can approve. Fixed price. How it runs.

  • A value map of where AI could pay across the company
  • The prize sized in pounds and ranked by value and feasibility
  • A first wave ready to start: outcomes, owners, workflow changes, controls, measures and a business case
  • A playback where the board and deal team agree the number in the value-creation plan
  • An exit narrative with a defensible evidence trail
across the hold.

What AI is for at each stage.

  • at acquisition.

    Build AI into the value-creation plan from the start, sized in pounds, so the first hundred days include it rather than defer it.

  • during the hold.

    Where growth has plateaued, find the margin the plan is missing: cost to serve, capacity without matching headcount, and faster cycle times in core workflows.

  • ahead of exit.

    Show buyers value that survives diligence: use cases live in core workflows, measured against a baseline, with an evidence trail and the controls that apply.

how we work with sponsors.

The execution partner, not another strategy firm.

  • verify.

    We test the value assumptions in your plan against what we have seen elsewhere before anything is built.

  • accelerate.

    AI-led discovery workshops and interviews compress the months of sequential analysis that usually wait on a handful of experts.

  • transfer.

    What we build runs in the portfolio company's environment, and its team can run it when we leave.

  • align.

    After the review, delivery is linked to the outcomes agreed at playback, not billed purely on days.

also.

We also work with leadership teams and ai-native start-ups.

questions.

Straight answers.

Does Lumo work with the sponsor or the portfolio company?

Both. The value-creation team is usually the buyer and the portfolio company is where the work happens. Portfolio CEOs and CFOs also bring us in directly, often at a trigger point such as new ownership, a mid-hold plateau, a refinancing or exit preparation.

Can Lumo assess AI readiness across a whole portfolio?

Yes. A portfolio scan compares companies on their readiness and the value AI could create in each, so the sponsor can choose where a full review is worth doing first.

How does AI affect exit value?

Buyers increasingly ask what AI does for the business and what it could do next. Use cases that are live in core workflows, measured against a baseline and properly controlled are evidence a buyer can diligence. Pilots and licence counts are not.

Will the portfolio company depend on Lumo afterwards?

No. We build tools, agents and workflows in the company's own environment and hand the skills to its team as we go, so the capability stays when we leave.

next step.

Start with one portfolio company.

A four week, fixed-price review, ending in a number the board and deal team can agree on and a plan that can be executed.

talk to us →