Technology, data and AI due diligence for investors and acquirers
Independent technology, data and AI due diligence for private equity, investors and acquirers.
Buying a business? Understand the technology you are inheriting
For transactions, we assess the wider technology estate alongside data and AI capability. A deal may depend on a platform scaling, a team delivering or an integration being affordable. We test those assumptions against the target’s architecture, engineering, data, operations and available evidence.
The assessment connects technical findings to commercial implications: remediation, dependencies, operating costs and risks to the investment plan. It identifies what could change the price, timetable or conditions of the deal.
The written report is designed for the deal team and decision makers, with technical evidence available for closer examination. Missing access and untested claims are made explicit.
What it answers
Technology, data and AI, and the operating model around them
For private equity, investors and acquirers in M&A, the diligence tests the product and platform, the data assets and the AI claims, alongside the technical and architectural assessment: whether management’s AI plan is credible, where AI affects value and risk, and what the operating model will take to change. Legal, tax and financial diligence stay with the appropriate advisers.
- Do the product and technology work as management describes?
- How much of the AI is the target’s own, and how much is rented from a vendor?
- Is management’s AI plan credible?
- What proprietary data advantage actually exists?
- Does the data estate support the stated strategy?
- Is the product and platform fit for the growth plan?
- What operational and technical debt will a buyer inherit?
- What is the cloud, platform and supplier cost exposure?
- How much rests on a few key people or undocumented knowledge?
- Can the organisation realistically integrate acquisitions?
- Where could AI disrupt revenue, or improve margin?
- What workforce and process changes are likely?
We can work directly for private equity funds, operating partners and corporate acquirers, or alongside a specialist technology diligence firm.
After completion
From findings to the first 100 days
The findings become a plan management can run: what to fix first, which technology decisions can wait, which AI opportunities have real economics and where leadership cover is needed. We can stay with the portfolio company to deliver the first priorities, or hand the plan to its own team.
Who this is built for
- Private equity funds and operating partners ahead of an investment decision
- Venture and growth investors testing a technology or AI story
- Acquirers in M&A assessing a target's technology and integration cost
- Boards inheriting a platform they did not commission
- Leadership teams preparing for a raise, sale or refinancing
What you receive
- A written assessment with a clear, evidenced position on each area
- A risk register, rated by commercial impact rather than technical severity
- An indicative remediation and integration cost view
- A first view of the 100-day priorities: what to fix first and what can wait
- A briefing for the deal team or board, and follow-up availability
How the assessment runs
- Week 1Scope
Deal thesis, data room, management sessions
- Weeks 2 to 3Evidence
Architecture, code, data, team, security, delivery
Interim view available early where a decision cannot wait
- Week 4Findings
Commercial impact, remediation costs
- DecisionReport and briefing
With the deal team
Typical investment
Fixed scope, fixed price
Know what the answer costs before we start. All figures ex VAT; the final fixed fee is confirmed after scoping.
- Focused due diligence
- from £10,000
- Full diligence, scoped to deal size, complexity and timetable
- typically £15,000 to £35,000+
What we need from you
- The investment thesis, timetable and material technology assumptions
- Access to the data room, architecture, engineering evidence and key staff
- The deal team’s priorities and the scope of other advisers’ work
Scope and boundaries
- Focused diligence from £10,000 addresses an agreed set of material questions.
- A fuller assessment typically costs £15,000–£35,000+, depending on systems, access and timetable.
- Penetration testing, legal opinions, financial audit and certification are separate specialist work.
- The platform case study shows relevant assessment and remediation experience from our portfolio; it does not evidence an investment transaction.
Sample extract
What you get
An illustrative extract, not client data. The real document carries your evidence and your numbers.
TechGuidr
Sample extractAn extract from a diligence report
- Finding
- Data platform does not support the claimed scale
- Evidence
- Single-tenant architecture; no horizontal partitioning; load test failure at 4x current volume
- Commercial impact
- High. The growth case assumes 10x volume in 24 months
- Deal implication
- Price or plan should reflect a platform re-architecture
- Sample finding
- The headline price excluded integration, internal delivery time and exit cost. Each is quantified from the target's contracts, architecture and team evidence before a total is presented
Track record
Relevant work
On one platform review, at a UK learning and wellbeing business, the user experience suggested a product approaching enterprise readiness. Inspection of the underlying architecture found dashboards disconnected from live data and analytical calculations that did not implement the authoritative methodology. The intervention did not stop at the report: both applications, the iOS and Android apps and the underlying data platform were subsequently rebuilt.
Read the full storyBefore you commit
Questions before you commit
What if the decision cannot wait for every answer?
We agree an interim view and distinguish established findings, open questions and the implications of deciding without further evidence.
Does the review certify the target as secure?
No. It examines agreed security and operational evidence within the diligence scope. Specialist testing or assurance is identified separately where needed.
What does technology due diligence cover?
The architecture, code and data, the team and how it delivers, security and resilience, technical debt and the cost to fix it, scalability, and whether management’s AI plan is credible. Findings are ranked by what would change the price or the decision.
How much does technology due diligence cost?
A focused assessment starts from £10,000 ex VAT. Full diligence is typically £15,000 to £35,000 and above, depending on the deal size, complexity and timetable.
How long does it take?
We plan for two to four weeks, with an interim view available early where the decision cannot wait.
Do you test the target’s AI claims?
Yes. We check what the AI actually does, what data it depends on, whether the business has the right to use that data, what it costs to run and whether the plan built on it is credible.
Can you assess a target’s data assets?
Yes. We look at which data is unique, how it is collected and kept current, whether the business can use it the way the plan assumes, and whether it is usable for the AI or products in the plan.
The route
Other services
Every engagement sits on the route from an idea to a working system. Start wherever you are.
Tell us what you’re considering buying
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