Move AI from fund thesis into portfolio EBITDA.
Applied AI and workflow redesign for buy-and-build sponsors, through hands-on scoping and code I write myself. From someone who closed 75+ acquisitions inside a sponsor-backed roll-up.
Every fund now has an AI thesis. Few portcos see it in EBITDA.
Management teams are stretched thin, operating partners cover too many companies, consultants leave decks, and vendors push generic tools. I embed directly into 2–3 friction workflows, write the code myself, and hand them back running and measured. No consultant-to-developer translation loss.
Two layers, one value-creation plan
Friction at the top, where the firm runs the deal engine, and at the bottom, inside every operating company.
Firm level
- Portfolio KPI packs & commentary. Monthly KPI packs built directly from portco data with drafted variance commentary, not chased by email. Operating partners get the synthesis days sooner.
- Add-on M&A deal engine. The buy-and-build pipeline moved from fragmented spreadsheets into a live view, with standardized LOI-to-close runbooks so add-on EBITDA consolidates faster.
- Rapid diligence red-flag triage. Data-room triage and a cited red-flag list in days, each finding mapped to an owned item on the 100-day plan.
- Searchable firm knowledge base. Past memos, diligence findings and portco integration playbooks in one place, so every new deal starts from experience.
Portfolio company level
- Finance operations & close. Faster month-end close, touchless AP 3-way invoice matching, and collections workflows that compress DSO.
- Customer & frontline ops. Support tickets triaged and response-drafted, patient and customer no-shows reduced, churn risk flagged before it hits revenue.
- Revenue leakage recovery. Billing denials root-caused, insurance eligibility verified automatically, quote turnaround cut at the source.
- Roll-up site integration. Newly acquired locations onboarded to core systems in weeks, with one KPI pack across every unit.
The first 90 days at a portco
Baseline & quick win
- Audit the baseline. Throughput, cycle time and error rate, in the company's own data.
- Agree the dollar formula. An auditable ROI calculation, signed off by sponsor and management.
- Ship a quick win. An early automation inside 30 days for frontline credibility.
Redesigned workflow live
- AI-in-the-loop, in production. The redesigned workflow in daily use, end to end.
- Human exception guardrails. Review triggers for edge cases and quality checks.
- Frontline calibration. Throughput, error reduction and adoption tracked daily.
Measured impact & handover
- Audited EBITDA measurement. Savings and run-rate impact vs. the Day-1 baseline.
- Documentation & training. Staff training and complete operating runbooks.
- Handover or expansion. Internal ownership, or the playbook scaled to sister portcos.
A low-friction three-step ladder
Built for operating partners: a rapid diagnostic, a pilot with fee at risk, and a monthly retainer with a 3-month minimum, then 30 days' notice.
Diagnostic
- Map friction workflows. Interview frontline operators, then map and score 3–5 workflows where delays, rework or manual steps pile up.
- Quantify dollar ROI. Auditable value models and baseline metrics.
- Zero net cost. Pick the highest-ROI workflow. The full fee is credited against the pilot if you proceed.
Portco pilot
- Ship one workflow end to end. Applied AI built into daily operations, with strict human guardrails.
- Validate against baseline. Cycle time, error rate and cost per transaction tracked daily against the audited Day-1 benchmark.
- 20% of the fee at risk. The final 20% depends on hitting the agreed exit performance target.
Portfolio retainer
- Scale proven playbooks. Monthly operating days across the deal engine and sister portcos.
- High-impact expansion. KPI packs, triage engines and finance-ops work across the broader portfolio.
- The fund controls pace. 30 days' notice after month 3, no auto-renewal. Resize or redirect the days each month with deal flow.
In scope
Workflow friction audits, custom AI pipeline engineering, human guardrails, change management, staff training, and measured EBITDA handover.
Out of scope
Multi-year ERP/CRM vendor migrations, third-party software licensing markups, permanent full-time hires, or interim C-suite roles.
I've done the sponsor's work from the inside, and I've already put AI into a sponsor's workflow. The person scoping the workflow is the one who ships it.
75+ deals · ~$350MM added
8+ years of corp dev and valuation. Closed 75+ acquisitions inside MyEyeDr. (a Goldman Sachs portfolio company) and helped add about $350MM of revenue to PE-backed healthcare platforms, including a ~$100MM, 25+ site deal from pre-LOI to APA.
HubSpot + SQL + AI platform
At a PE-backed specialty veterinary platform, built an enterprise M&A pipeline platform that replaced manual Excel reporting across the sponsor's whole portfolio with live executive visibility.
IB rigor + production code
Investment-banking valuation training (DCF, comps, precedents) combined with hands-on Python, SQL and modern AI.
Peter Burrus, OptimEyed
30 minutes on one portco where an AI pilot shows up in next quarter's EBITDA
Tell me which portfolio company you have in mind and I'll follow up to schedule it.
Prefer email? peterburrusjr@gmail.com · LinkedIn