What 1,000 dealmakers say about AI
AI has officially entered the deal room. But what it’s doing there depends on where you are in the deal.
Datasite and FT Longitude asked 1,000 senior dealmakers how they’re using AI across the M&A process, from the first look at an opportunity to the final board report.
Download the report today and see below where AI is making its mark.
Thank you!
Your report is ready to download.
1,000 dealmakers
M&A decision-makers
Across the ecosystem
Corporate, PE, law, accounting, professional services
Global reach
40% Americas · 35% EMEA · 25% APAC
Beyond the survey
Interviews with M&A leaders
Where AI is making the biggest impact
Strategy & ideation
At this early stage, 34% of dealmakers use AI regularly or have fully embedded it in their workflows. Another 44% use it to assess and compare opportunities more effectively—a critical part of strategy and ideation.
Sourcing & screening
This stage involves a significant amount of research, reading, and checking against set criteria—tasks at which AI excels. Forty-three percent of dealmakers use it regularly or have fully embedded it at this stage.
Deal marketing
Thirty-nine percent use AI regularly or have fully embedded the technology to optimize their deal marketing. In fact, nearly 60% say AI is improving their ability to address buyer and seller questions at scale.
Deal preparation
At this labor-intensive, analytical stage, 92% of dealmakers are using or exploring AI to support deal preparation and improve decision-making.
Due diligence
Due diligence is where AI provides the most ROI and biggest impact. Half of dealmakers are using it regularly or have fully embedded it at this stage of the deal, and only 4% don’t use it at all.
Closing
At this relationship-based stage, where human empathy is needed most, AI plays a smaller role here: 31% of dealmakers don’t use AI here at all.
Board reporting & governance
73% percent of dealmakers are using AI at this final stage of dealmaking, vs 27% who do not. While humans still lead this part of the deal, AI is simply used to help formalize it.
What dealmakers need from AI now
The deeper AI gets into the deal, the higher the stakes. Speed is great. But when sensitive information and major decisions are involved, ‘fast’ isn’t much of a selling point if you can’t trust the answer. For dealmakers, that raises the bar.
There’s more to the story
Seven deal stages are just the start. The full report digs into how AI is reshaping the deal team, what dealmakers expect next, and what has to happen for AI adoption to keep growing.
