Mergermarket: Private equity’s slow start on AI governance
- Jun 5
- 1 min read
“People think AI is going to be like air, available for as long as they want and affordable enough for them to consume as much as they need," Steven Okun told Tim Burroughs as part of his deep dive on how private equity firms approach AI adoption.
Many PE firms and their portfolio companies go all in on AI but with no budget, no risk plan, and no idea what happens if it gets expensive.
What if AI costs 5x more in three years? Do you still hire that many fewer analysts? Because if the economics flip, you've made a bet that's hard to unwind.
Tim closes the article with this quote from me on why funds should be undertaking AI risk scenario analysis from a public interest perspective:
“Do we know how itʼs going to play out? Of course not. Is it too soon to know that AI is going to become restricted? Yes. However, itʼs not too soon to be thinking about it from a traditional ESG perspective,” said Okun of APAC Advisors.
