AI for Private Equity
You Have an AI Initiative to Deliver. Your Team Already Has a Company to Run.
We work with operating partners and portfolio company leaders to choose one workflow worth improving, build AI into the systems their team already uses, and report the result against a baseline the CFO agrees with. It starts with a 30-minute call with a senior engineer.
A note from Jyot
I started RTS Labs in 2010. A lot of my time now goes to operating partners and the CFOs they back.
I don’t think your team needs another AI initiative to manage. I’d rather start with one workflow they want fixed, and agree up front on how we’ll know it helped.
So pick one company and one number with us. We’ll build it into production and measure whether it moved. If the data needs work, we’ll find that in discovery, before you commit to a build.
Jyot Singh
Founder and CEO, RTS Labs
Firms and Portfolio Companies We've Built For
Value creation plan waiting on AI?
Why It Matters
Your Value Creation Plan Names the Opportunity. Someone Has to Build It.
The value creation plan names the opportunity. Then it lands on a portfolio company that’s already stretched, with data in five systems and no one free to run an AI project. That’s the part we take on.
Where Most Teams Are Stuck
Data spread across ERPs, spreadsheets and reports that don’t agree
A use case too broad to build and too vague to measure
Tools that never connect to the company’s ERP, CRM or accounting system
No one inside the company owns adoption, so usage fades after the demo
Where RTS Labs Takes You
Data checked and connected before we build
Phase 1 scoped to one operating metric in your plan
Built into the tools the company’s team already uses
Results measured against a baseline, with the CFO agreeing how they show up in EBITDA and cash
Sound Familiar?
The Problems We're Called In to Solve.
If one of these sounds like your portfolio, it’s a good place to start.
“The board wants an AI story. The company isn't ready.”
Leadership is interested, the data isn’t there yet, and nobody has time to run the project.
“Every company reports its KPIs differently.”
Month-end packs arrive late, built by hand, and adjusted EBITDA means something different at each company.
“The plan is urgent. The management team is maxed out.”
Every initiative competes for the same five people.
“We bought point tools. Nothing connects.”
Each tool solves one task and leaves the data in another silo.
“The pilot looked great on clean data.”
Then it met the ERP, the spreadsheets and the exceptions, and stalled.
“We can't show the impact.”
Projects report model accuracy, not hours saved, cycle time or margin, so the board can’t tell whether it worked.
Recognize two or more?
Start with the one that costs most.
Thirty minutes with a senior engineer. You’ll get a first read on which company and workflow pay back fastest.
Proof
What It Looks Like When It Ships.
Work inside portfolio companies and for the firms around a deal.
Operating Intelligence · Buy-and-Build Platform
Month-End Close 70% Faster Across a Buy-and-Build Platform
A buy-and-build platform had every operating company defining its metrics differently, and month-end close ran on spreadsheets. We standardized the KPI definitions, automated the close, and built cross-portfolio dashboards on one data foundation the operating partners trust.
“We went from chasing month-end spreadsheets to one definition of truth across the portfolio.”
Operating Partner, lower middle market PE firm
Due Diligence · Financial Due Diligence Firm
Due Diligence Reports in Half the Time
Analysts at a financial due diligence firm spent six-plus hours per report on manual extraction. We built a platform that pulls financial metrics, compliance flags and risk indicators from source documents, with a citation behind every extraction.
More From Funds and Portfolio Companies
Engineering Documentation · Bio-Response Solutions (3 Boomerang Capital portfolio company)
A project assistant that drafts technical documents and answers engineers’ questions from internal files, with sources. Documentation time down 60%, and more projects finished each quarter without new hires.
Extended AI Team · PE-Backed Software Company
Brought back for a third engagement. An RTS team works alongside the company’s own engineers, about 4,500 hours so far.
Deal Platform · Investment Banking
An agent drafts partner pre-call memos from deal documents. Bankers build their own AI steps without engineers. Live in about 90 days, with the code and AWS account owned by the client.
Want this in one of your companies?
Start with a 30-minute call.
A senior engineer on the company and the workflow that matter most to your plan.
Where We Apply It
Where We'd Start in Your Portfolio.
Work for the deal team at the fund, and work inside the portfolio companies. Filter by where you want to move a number.
Fund & Deals
Due Diligence Acceleration
Pain
Add-on diligence runs on manual document review, and the deal window is short.
We Build
Extracts and summarizes financial, contract and operational documents with a citation behind every point, so the deal team reviews instead of assembling.
Impact
A diligence firm cut report time by 50%.
For: Deal Team · Corp Dev
Fund & Deals
Deal Intake & Screening
Pain
CIMs and teasers pile up faster than the team can read them.
We Build
Reads incoming deal packages, checks them against your investment criteria, and drafts a first-pass summary for the deal team.
Impact
More deals screened, faster no’s, and more time on the ones that fit.
For: Principals · Associates
Fund & Deals
Pre-Meeting Briefs
Pain
Partners walk into management and banker meetings after hours of prep someone did by hand.
We Build
Drafts pre-meeting briefs from deal history, CRM notes, documents and market data.
Impact
Partners walk in with a drafted brief. An investment bank runs this in production.
For: Partners · Deal Team
Portfolio Reporting
Data Readiness & Mapping
Pain
Pilots stall because the data isn’t ready.
We Build
A two-week Discovery Sprint that maps each company’s systems and data, scores what’s usable, and prices what it takes to fix.
Impact
A clear go/no-go before real money.
For: Operating Partner · CFO · IT Lead
Portfolio Reporting
KPI Standardization
Pain
Every company defines its metrics differently.
We Build
Shared definitions for comparable financial KPIs, with company-specific operating metrics and mappings back to source systems.
Impact
One definition of each number across the portfolio.
For: Portfolio Operations
Portfolio Reporting
Board Packs & Portfolio Monitoring
Pain
Board packs and portfolio monitoring are rebuilt by hand every quarter.
We Build
Portfolio company KPIs pulled from source systems into board packs and the fund’s portfolio monitoring, using shared definitions for comparable financial measures.
Impact
Faster reporting cycles, with numbers that tie back to the source.
For: Operating Partner · Portfolio Company CFO
Portfolio Reporting
Month-End Close Automation
Pain
Month-end close is manual and slow at most portfolio companies.
We Build
Automates reconciliations and the close checklist, and explains variances against budget and prior periods.
Impact
One buy-and-build platform cut month-end close time by 70%.
For: Portfolio Company CFO
Portfolio Reporting
Add-On Integration
Pain
Every add-on acquisition rebuilds reporting from scratch.
We Build
A repeatable onboarding model that maps a new company’s chart of accounts, KPIs and systems to the platform standard.
Impact
New add-ons report on the platform standard without waiting for an ERP migration.
For: Integration Lead · CFO
Portfolio Operations
Knowledge & Documentation Assistant
Pain
Answers live in SOPs, specs and the heads of a few senior people.
We Build
An assistant that answers from the company’s own documents with sources, and drafts routine documents.
Impact
Bio-Response Solutions cut engineering documentation time by 60%.
For: Operations · Engineering
Portfolio Operations
Quoting & Proposal Copilot
Pain
Quotes take days because pricing logic lives in spreadsheets.
We Build
A guided quoting tool that applies the company’s pricing rules and drafts the proposal, synced to the CRM.
Impact
Icon Custom Pools cut quote time from a full day to five minutes.
For: CRO · Sales Leadership
Portfolio Operations
Invoice & AP Automation
Pain
Vendor invoices are keyed by hand, causing backlogs and late payouts.
We Build
Reads invoices in the formats your vendors send, validates them against POs and contracts, and routes exceptions for review.
Impact
Fewer AP hours and cleaner, faster payouts.
For: Controller · AP
Portfolio Operations
Agentic Workflow Automation
Pain
High-volume coordination work eats operating capacity.
We Build
Agents that route, chase, draft and reconcile, with people approving anything that commits money or changes a financial record.
Impact
Routine work handled, exceptions sent to people.
For: COO
Portfolio Operations
Portfolio Playbook
Pain
Each company solves the same problem differently, and lessons don’t transfer.
We Build
A reusable data model, integration code and playbook from the first build, adapted for similar companies in the portfolio.
Impact
The next deployment starts from working code.
For: Operating Partner
Fund & Deals
Due Diligence Acceleration
Pain
Add-on diligence runs on manual document review, and the deal window is short.
We Build
Extracts and summarizes financial, contract and operational documents with a citation behind every point, so the deal team reviews instead of assembling.
Impact
A diligence firm cut report time by 50%.
For: Deal Team · Corp Dev
Fund & Deals
Deal Intake & Screening
Pain
CIMs and teasers pile up faster than the team can read them.
We Build
Reads incoming deal packages, checks them against your investment criteria, and drafts a first-pass summary for the deal team.
Impact
More deals screened, faster no’s, and more time on the ones that fit.
For: Principals · Associates
Fund & Deals
Pre-Meeting Briefs
Pain
Partners walk into management and banker meetings after hours of prep someone did by hand.
We Build
Drafts pre-meeting briefs from deal history, CRM notes, documents and market data.
Impact
Partners walk in with a drafted brief. An investment bank runs this in production.
For: Partners · Deal Team
Portfolio Reporting
Data Readiness & Mapping
Pain
Pilots stall because the data isn’t ready.
We Build
A two-week Discovery Sprint that maps each company’s systems and data, scores what’s usable, and prices what it takes to fix.
Impact
A clear go/no-go before real money.
For: Operating Partner · CFO · IT Lead
Portfolio Reporting
KPI Standardization
Pain
Every company defines its metrics differently.
We Build
Shared definitions for comparable financial KPIs, with company-specific operating metrics and mappings back to source systems.
Impact
One definition of each number across the portfolio.
For: Portfolio Operations
Portfolio Reporting
Board Packs & Portfolio Monitoring
Pain
Board packs and portfolio monitoring are rebuilt by hand every quarter.
We Build
Portfolio company KPIs pulled from source systems into board packs and the fund’s portfolio monitoring, using shared definitions for comparable financial measures.
Impact
Faster reporting cycles, with numbers that tie back to the source.
For: Operating Partner · Portfolio Company CFO
Portfolio Reporting
Month-End Close Automation
Pain
Month-end close is manual and slow at most portfolio companies.
We Build
Automates reconciliations and the close checklist, and explains variances against budget and prior periods.
Impact
One buy-and-build platform cut month-end close time by 70%.
For: Portfolio Company CFO
Portfolio Reporting
Add-On Integration
Pain
Every add-on acquisition rebuilds reporting from scratch.
We Build
A repeatable onboarding model that maps a new company’s chart of accounts, KPIs and systems to the platform standard.
Impact
New add-ons report on the platform standard without waiting for an ERP migration.
For: Integration Lead · CFO
Portfolio Operations
Knowledge & Documentation Assistant
Pain
Answers live in SOPs, specs and the heads of a few senior people.
We Build
An assistant that answers from the company’s own documents with sources, and drafts routine documents.
Impact
Bio-Response Solutions cut engineering documentation time by 60%.
For: Operations · Engineering
Portfolio Operations
Quoting & Proposal Copilot
Pain
Quotes take days because pricing logic lives in spreadsheets.
We Build
A guided quoting tool that applies the company’s pricing rules and drafts the proposal, synced to the CRM.
Impact
Icon Custom Pools cut quote time from a full day to five minutes.
For: CRO · Sales Leadership
Portfolio Operations
Invoice & AP Automation
Pain
Vendor invoices are keyed by hand, causing backlogs and late payouts.
We Build
Reads invoices in the formats your vendors send, validates them against POs and contracts, and routes exceptions for review.
Impact
Fewer AP hours and cleaner, faster payouts.
For: Controller · AP
Portfolio Operations
Agentic Workflow Automation
Pain
High-volume coordination work eats operating capacity.
We Build
Agents that route, chase, draft and reconcile, with people approving anything that commits money or changes a financial record.
Impact
Routine work handled, exceptions sent to people.
For: COO
Portfolio Operations
Portfolio Playbook
Pain
Each company solves the same problem differently, and lessons don’t transfer.
We Build
A reusable data model, integration code and playbook from the first build, adapted for similar companies in the portfolio.
Impact
The next deployment starts from working code.
For: Operating Partner
Not sure which of these fits your portfolio?
Start with a 30-minute call to narrow the options. If there’s a fit, a fixed-fee Discovery Sprint confirms the company, the workflow, the data and the build scope.
How We Partner
One Company. One Workflow.
Then the Next One.
A fixed-fee Discovery Sprint first, then fixed-price builds. You know the cost and the go/no-go before the real spend starts.
1
Pick the Company and the Workflow
Choose a portfolio company where the pain is visible, leadership is engaged, data is reachable and the metric matters to the plan.
A clear reason to start there
2
Check the Data and Systems
A two-week Discovery Sprint maps the ERP, CRM, accounting and reporting flows, and confirms what’s feasible before you commit to a build.
Go/no-go before real money
3
Build Phase 1 Into Production
We build one workflow into the tools the team already uses, tied to one operating metric. A company-side process owner is named, the people doing the work test it, and rollout and training are agreed before launch.
Live in weeks
4
Measure, Then Reuse
We report usage and movement in the target metric, then adapt the pattern for the next company.
Results the board can read
Why RTS Labs
The Team That Recommends It Is the Team That Builds It.
How we compare with the options you’re probably weighing: big consulting firms, offshore dev shops and AI prototype vendors.
Big Consulting Firms
Offshore Dev Shops
AI Prototype Vendors
Ships Production Systems
Senior Engineers on Your Account
Owns Data, Security and Governance
Phase 1 Live in Weeks
Stays After Launch
See It in Action
Watch How We Ship AI Into Production.
A short look at how we take AI from pilot to production: the data work, the guardrails and the handoff.
Why Operating Partners Trust Us to Build
Credibility You Can Check Before You Commit.
The facts a vendor review asks for, and the controls portfolio company IT teams ask about.
Building Since 2010
We’ve shipped production software since 2010. Our AI work runs on the same delivery habits.
200,000+ Hours of AI Work
Delivered for clients in financial services, logistics, insurance, construction and more.
100+ People, All in the US
The engineers on your project are RTS employees based in the US.
SOC 2 Type II
SOC 2 Type II attestation held by Rising Tides Solutions, LLC, the company behind RTS Labs. Report available under NDA.
Anthropic Claude Partner
RTS Labs is a member of Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network.
Inside 19 Sponsors' Portfolios
We’ve worked inside portfolio companies backed by 19 different PE sponsors.
You Own What We Build
The custom code and infrastructure we build transfer to the company at handoff, in its repositories.
A Person Approves the Big Moves
Anything that commits money or changes a financial record waits for a person. Routine work runs on rules you set.
Tested on the Company's Own Data
We measure accuracy on the company’s real records and documents before launch, and keep measuring in production.
Who You'll Work With
Meet the Delivery Team.
Everyone on your project is an RTS employee based in the US. Our home base is Glen Allen, Virginia, just outside Richmond.
Nathan Clarke
Director of Client Delivery
Chris Deiter
Team Lead, Software Engineer
Jerry Pauly
Team Lead, Software Engineer
Named a 2026 Top Workplace by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, based on what our own people say about working here.
Our Clients' Words
Testimonials
CSuite Accelerator
- Ephraim Schachter | Founder & CEO
Questions, Answered Straight
Before You Talk to Us.
What is AI consulting for private equity?
It’s help choosing, building and running AI for a fund and its portfolio companies. A good partner finds the workflow in the value creation plan where AI pays back, checks that the company’s data supports it, builds it into the systems the team already uses, and measures the result. At RTS Labs, one senior team takes it from the first call to production.
How is AI used in private equity?
In two places. At the fund, AI speeds up deal screening, diligence and meeting prep. Inside portfolio companies, it takes manual work out of reporting, month-end close, invoicing, quoting and customer service. Generative AI reads documents and drafts. Agents route and chase routine work, with people approving anything that commits money or changes a financial record.
How does AI support private equity value creation?
By moving a number in the plan. The common levers are a faster close and cleaner reporting, more output per person in finance and operations, faster quoting and sales, and faster diligence on add-ons. One buy-and-build platform cut month-end close time by 70% after we standardized its KPIs and automated the close.
Our portfolio companies want AI but aren't ready. Where do we start?
With one company and one workflow. A fixed-fee, two-week Discovery Sprint maps the company’s systems and data, picks the workflow tied to a metric in your plan, and gives you a go/no-go and a fixed price for phase 1.
Is the portfolio company's data good enough for AI?
Often not yet, and that’s part of the work. Data can look ready on a slide and still be split across systems, defined differently by each team, or stuck in spreadsheets. We check it during discovery and fix the foundation before building on it. Our data engineering team handles that.
How long until something is in production, and how is it priced?
Every engagement starts with a fixed-fee, two-week Discovery Sprint, so you know the scope and price before you commit to a build. Builds are then priced as fixed-scope projects with milestones. Most first builds go live in 6 to 16 weeks, depending on data and integrations. The cross-portfolio reporting build on this page went live in 6 weeks.
Can we contract once at the fund and deploy across portfolio companies?
Yes. We can set up a shared master agreement with the sponsor and a statement of work for each company. Each participating company approves its own scope, costs and vendor checks. The same delivery team carries what it learned from one company to the next.
How does this scale across the portfolio?
The first build leaves a reusable data model, integration code and playbook. When a similar company has the same problem, we start from that work instead of a blank page. How much that saves depends on how alike the companies’ systems are, and we’ll tell you during discovery.
How do you measure impact?
In the terms of your value creation plan: hours removed, cycle time, close time, quote turnaround and margin. We agree on the metric and the baseline before we build, the CFO agrees how the result translates into financial value, and we report against it after launch.
How do you handle security and data access?
The company’s data stays under its control. We use role-based access, log what the system reads and does, and agree during discovery which model services, if any, can see the data. Anything that commits money or changes a financial record goes through a person. The full set of controls is on our AI agent governance page.
Who owns the code and the data?
The company owns the custom code and infrastructure we build, in its repositories and its cloud account. Third-party models stay under their providers’ terms. At handoff the team gets documentation and training, and it’s never locked in to us to keep the system running.
What happens after launch?
After launch, the company decides who runs it. Some run the system themselves. Others keep us on a monthly support retainer or add an embedded AI team to build the next workflow. Running costs are mostly cloud and model usage in the company’s own account, and we size them during the build.
Should we buy AI tools like Rogo or build custom AI?
Both, for different jobs. Tools like Rogo help the deal team research and analyze at the fund, with a subscription and no build cycle. For a workflow inside a portfolio company’s ERP, CRM or close process, first check whether an existing tool covers the integrations, controls and exceptions you need. Build when it doesn’t. If the company already pays for Copilot or ChatGPT Enterprise, keep it for individual work.
How is RTS Labs different from Accenture, Deloitte or PwC?
A different scale and a different job. The large firms run portfolio-wide transformation programs with deep benches. We start narrow: one company and one workflow, built into production and measured by the senior engineers who scoped it. Everyone on the work is an RTS employee based in the US.
Do you work with funds directly, or only with portfolio companies?
Both. For deal teams, we’ve built a diligence platform that cut report time by 50% and a deal platform for an investment bank. Inside portfolio companies, we’ve built reporting and documentation systems and worked as an extended AI team. We’ve worked inside companies backed by 19 different PE sponsors.
How much of the finance team's time does this take?
We plan around month-end close. During discovery we need a process owner for a few hours a week, sample files and access to the systems involved. We size the time the build needs before you commit, so the CFO knows what it asks of the team.
How do you work with a management team that didn't ask for this?
We scope with the company’s CEO and CFO, not around them. The metric is theirs, the system runs in their tools, and they decide what ships.
Does this help at exit?
It can. We measure results against a baseline agreed before the build and document them, so the improvement and the system behind it can support the equity story when you sell.
Let's Talk
Bring Us One Company and One Metric.
Thirty minutes with a senior engineer. Bring the companies you’re weighing and the numbers you want to move. You’ll leave with a first read on feasibility and a rough effort range.
A senior engineer on the call
A read on feasibility, data and effort
Which company and workflow to start with, and why