About
Job titles aside, a core strength of mine over the years has been the development and…
Services
Articles by Steve
Activity
4K followers
-
Steve Budd shared thisWhat began as an exploratory conversation in March has become a Visionary Partnership for our flagship New York event. NetSuite backed the concept, and the network I'm building, early on. I'm looking forward to repaying that confidence on October 13.Steve Budd shared thisWe're pleased to welcome NetSuite as a Visionary Partner for our Private Equity AI Strategy Day in New York on Tuesday October 13. NetSuite runs the finance and operational backbone of a great many portfolio companies, which puts it right where AI advantage is won or lost: not in isolated pilots, but in the core systems where a business actually plans, reports and makes decisions. At the Strategy Day, Erin Brodie, VP Strategic Partnerships at Oracle NetSuite, joins our opening keynote, What AI Advantage Really Looks Like in Private Equity: the case for the AI-native operating model, what it looks like in practice, and how the best firms are getting there without waiting for the technology to be perfect. Places are limited. Request yours here: https://lnkd.in/eqcu82Sp #PrivateEquity #AI #ValueCreation #PortfolioOperations
-
Steve Budd shared this85 private equity leaders and operators. 66 firms. 10 seats remaining. On October 13, the people actually operationalizing AI across their firms and portfolios are coming together in New York for AI Pathfinder's Private Equity AI Strategy Day: From AI Adoption to AI Advantage. The day is hosted by Sharon Goldman, founder of Ground Level AI and previously an AI reporter at Fortune, who compères throughout and draws out the threads worth taking home. A quick look at who's already in the room: Advent, Aquiline, Blackstone, CD&R, CVC, Elliott Investment Management L.P., EQT Group, Eurazeo, General Atlantic, H.I.G. Capital, Providence Equity Partners, TowerBrook, Veritas Capital, Warburg Pincus LLC and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, among many more. This isn't a conference. It's a working forum built around what practitioners have actually done: ⚠️ What an AI-native operating model actually looks like: Ishan Gammampila (Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Apax) in conversation with Erin Brodie (Vice President Strategic Partnerships, NetSuite) on redesigning how a firm and its portfolio operate when AI is embedded from the start, not bolted on. ⚠️ What's genuinely working, from the people who built it: Paul Henderson (Chief Product Officer, IANS) on the agentic "shared brain" he built from every meeting and decision, and why he expects it to carry weight in an exit. Plus Lloyd Hilton (Head of Catalyst, Hg) on industrializing AI transformation across a portfolio. ⚠️ Measuring what actually matters: the shift from tracking AI usage to proving business value, with Trevor Ross (VP Data & AI, SK Capital Partners) and Prerak Vohra (Managing Director, Goldman Sachs). Adoption is becoming table stakes. The question that separates firms over a hold period is how AI becomes a durable, measurable advantage. This is all made possible by our expert partners: NetSuite, West Monroe, Hitachi Digital Services, Model ML, Glean, Stuut, RingStone, Wipro, Virgil and InstaLILY AI. Thank you! If you're in a PE or VC firm and you're not yet in the room, reply or drop me a message and I'll hold you a seat. 📍 Midtown, New York 📅 Tuesday October 13, 8am–4pm
-
Steve Budd shared this"The companies getting AI right aren't 10% faster. They're 100 times faster." That's Ishan Gammampila, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Apax, and it's the idea behind our opening keynote at AI Pathfinder's Private Equity AI Strategy Day in New York on 13 October. His argument is not about tools. Everyone has the same tools. The advantage is organisational: the right people, the willingness to ship something "good enough" and iterate, and the nerve to stop waiting for the technology, or the data, to be perfect. A few things he's seen up close: → A portfolio company that scrapped two years of traditional product development and rebuilt in six months → Design workshops that now open with a working prototype instead of a wireframe, because the cost of an iteration is near zero → A pricing process re-mapped job by job, taking sales cycles from 6-9 months down to 1-2 weeks That is the difference between adopting AI and building an AI-native operating model. It's the theme of the whole day: From AI Adoption to AI Advantage. In the opening keynote, "What AI Advantage Really Looks Like in Private Equity," Ishan sits down with Erin Brodie, Vice President Strategic Partnerships at NetSuite, for a candid fireside on what the AI-native firm actually looks like in practice, and where the leverage compounds. And because the room runs under the Chatham House Rule, these are conversations you rarely get on a stage: what's genuinely working, what quietly isn't, and the numbers behind both. The room so far includes teams from Blackstone, CD&R, Centerbridge, CVC, Elliott, EQT, Eurazeo, General Atlantic, Goldman Sachs, HIG Capital, Permira, TowerBrook and Veritas Capital. It's capped at 100 seats, and we're now under three weeks out and 15 seats remaining. If you're a PE leader and want to plug into what you're peers are doing with AI, reply here or drop me a message and I'll hold you a place. See more below 👇 📍 Midtown New York 📅 Tuesday October 13, 8am-4pm
-
Steve Budd shared thisA year ago, private equity was asking whether to adopt AI. Now 71% have. But only 18% can show it's become an advantage. That gap is the focus of my latest newsletter, with insights from our London PE AI Strategy Day and latest benchmark study. The short version: adoption was the easy part.The Advantage Gap: What a year of data and a room full of practitioners reveal about AI in private equityThe Advantage Gap: What a year of data and a room full of practitioners reveal about AI in private equity
-
Steve Budd shared thisOne week on from AI Pathfinder's Private Equity AI Strategy Day, and what has stayed with me is not a slide. It is how completely the conversation in private equity has changed. A year ago the question in rooms like this was "should we?" Last Tuesday, 150+ PE leaders spent the day on a harder one: you've adopted AI, but can you prove it's become an advantage yet? Our latest benchmark, presented to open the day, shows 71% of firms now integrating AI or beyond, up from 33% a year ago. Adoption has happened. But only 18% say it has become a durable advantage. The gap between those two numbers was the real subject of the day. Four things I took from the practitioners who showed what they had actually built: 🎯 Advantage comes from deciding, not building. As one product leader put it, AI has moved the constraint from the ability to build to the ability to decide what to build. 73% of firms in our benchmark are still using AI mostly to do existing work faster. The firms pulling ahead are reimagining the work, not just accelerating it. ⚙️ The unglamorous use cases are where the money is. One firm rebuilt portfolio-wide procurement analysis that took three to four months of outsourced work, and now runs it in under a week, ten times cheaper, surfacing tens of millions in savings. Another built a compliance agent for near-zero cost. Pick the boring, repeatable problem and start there. 🏗️ Data foundations are still the dividing line. The most in-house capability came from the firm that put eleven years into structured, well-governed data. Only 40% of firms trust their data is ready for scaled AI, and that number has barely moved. It is the quiet ceiling on everything else. 👥 The blocker is people, not technology. The value is not the tool, it is getting teams to change how they work. Our benchmark agrees: when adoption stalls in portfolio companies, 57% of the reasons are people ones (clarity, capability, conviction, culture) against 27% technical. One counterweight, from our closing keynote: public sentiment towards AI is hardening, and firms would be wise to keep a close ear on it. Thank you to our incredible speakers, who were brave enough to share their work: Benjamin Grether, Jason Raats, John Butterworth and FRANCESCA RONI; David White and Lars Dige Pedersen; Suzanne Pike; Elizabeth Gooch MBE, Corey Dixon, Fred Kinsman and Paul Williams and Professor Kate Devlin. And massive thank you to the partners who made the day possible and contributed their expertise: Ramp, Crosslake Technologies, Virgil, Model ML, Junior, Attercop, Codurance, West Monroe, Stuut, Finatal, RingStone, it|venture, Evalueserve and Acuity Analytics. Next, we travel to New York for our States-side PE AI Strategy Day on October 13. See below 👇 #PrivateEquity #AI #ValueCreation #ArtificialIntelligence
-
Steve Budd shared thisWhat a great evening spent in the company of Ramp and their first 100 customers in the UK. Their product growth journey has been something to behold in the States but their approach to opening new markets isn't with ego but in understanding that every market isn't the same. They are are open to learning before, no doubt, taking it by storm. There approach to growth has been putting trust in challengers like me and AI Pathfinder and that's working pretty well I'd say. Congrats Ramp and thank you Isabelle Fayad for the invite.
-
Steve Budd shared thisDay 2 begins, The PE AI Strategy Day 2026. Nearly 170 private equity leaders in the room this morning for AI Pathfinder's AI Strategy Day, from adoption to advantage. A full day of case studies, honest ROI discussion, and hands-on workshops ahead. More to come. #PrivateEquity #AI
-
Steve Budd shared thisToday it begins. 🚀 Day 1: PE AI Hackathon Workflow Build Lab Teams from across the private equity world are in the room, sleeves rolled up, building real AI workflows together: origination, diligence, value creation, and use-case prioritisation. No slides. No spectators. Just practitioners from different firms solving shared problems, side by side. This is what AI Pathfinder is about: bringing the right people together and letting the work happen. More to come. 👀 Thank you to our expert facilitators: QX Labs, Atlasweave, it|venture and ExoBrain
-
Steve Budd shared thisFantastic to welcome first time partners Evalueserve to our PE AI Strategy Network. Thank you to Susan Xie, Deepesh Bhatnagar, Gaurav Goyal and Andrada Cioflica (Popa) for making this collaboration come together so quickly. See you on the 15th.Steve Budd shared thisEvalueserve join us as an Innovation Partner for the AI Pathfinder Private Equity AI Strategy Day in London on Tuesday 15 September. Evalueserve takes a domain-led approach to AI, embedding it directly into the workflows where decisions are made and value is created rather than deploying technology in isolation. In private markets, they work across both sides of the house: investment intelligence, from deal evaluation and diligence through to monitoring and reporting, and portfolio value creation, helping operating teams prioritise and scale opportunities across their companies. That dual view gives them an unusually clear read on where AI is actually generating returns, and how firms turn a successful pilot into enterprise-wide impact. It's a useful perspective for the day. Innovation Partners host delegates through the morning and facilitate our closing roundtable, one of the most valuable sessions of the day, where the room gets specific about what counts as real, measurable AI ROI. In the words of Deepesh Bhatnagar, who leads Evalueserve's Private Markets practice: "One of the biggest determinants of AI success is bringing together the right mix of investors, operating partners, and technologists around shared business outcomes. That's what makes AI Pathfinder so valuable. It creates a forum for industry leaders to share lessons learned, challenge assumptions, and foster the cross-functional collaboration needed to translate AI investment into value creation." ⚠️ We have very limited availability now. If you work in a PE firm and want to move from AI Adoption to AI Advantage, reserve a seat now: https://lnkd.in/exRWiuqs #PrivateEquity #AI #ValueCreation #PortfolioOperations Gaurav Goyal Andrada Cioflica (Popa)
Steve Budd replied to a comment
1d
Thank you Billy Robins
Steve Budd replied to a comment
1d
Stephanie Michas Thank you. Your workshop is an excellent addition.
Steve Budd replied to a comment
1d
Patrick Corcoran Great you can be their Patrick and a super case study session you're supporting
-
Steve Budd liked thisLoved the conversations at AI Pathfinder Strategy Day - the common thread: the tech is rarely the hard part. People and data are. Read Maximilian Evans' and my take on the event below.Steve Budd liked this𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁? That was one of the key themes to emerge from our recent AI Pathfinder 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝘆, where the conversation moved beyond AI experimentation to a bigger question: how can private equity firms and their portfolio companies turn AI momentum into measurable value? 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁: → Technology is moving faster than people. → GPs have an opportunity to create stronger AI conversations across their portfolios. → Value creation needs to remain grounded in people, change management and data. For GPs, there is a real opportunity to bring CEOs and CTOs together to share what’s working, identify common challenges and accelerate learning across the portfolio. And for portfolio companies, the starting point shouldn’t be 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘈𝘐? but 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀? In our latest insight, Maria Monton and Maximilian Evans share the key takeaways from the day and what they mean for the next phase of AI adoption in private markets. 🔗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://lnkd.in/eVxJrtxP #PrivateEquity #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #ValueCreation #DataStrategyAI Pathfinder Strategy Day - September 2026: Turning AI Momentum into Portfolio Value - it|ventureAI Pathfinder Strategy Day - September 2026: Turning AI Momentum into Portfolio Value - it|venture
-
Steve Budd liked thisSteve Budd liked this🌐 Great conversations at the AI Pathfinder PE Strategy Day. Deepesh Bhatnagar and Gaurav Goyal joined private equity leaders, AI strategists, operating partners, and technology executives to discuss how firms are moving 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. The discussion highlighted a common theme: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮, 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀? 👏 Thank you to everyone who shared perspectives and experiences. Looking forward to continuing the conversation. #ArtificialIntelligence #PrivateEquity #DataAndAI #Innovation #BusinessTransformation
-
Steve Budd liked thisSteve Budd liked thisWelcome back to Model ML, joining us as Activation Partner for our Private Equity AI Strategy Day in New York on Tuesday October 13, running a hands-on workshop in our PE workflows stream. Model ML hosted a workshop at our very first Strategy Day last year. A lot has changed since then, in the technology and in what deal teams expect from it, so we've welcomed them back to show what's now possible that simply wasn't twelve months ago. Their product is a finance agent that lives inside the tools PE teams already use, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and a firm's own systems, connected to internal and external data in real time. Rather than a separate destination to visit, it works inside the deal workflow itself, from document review to client-ready output. The approach has drawn serious backing. Their workshop, facilitated by Tyler Sisk, asks a simple question with big implications: what would you redesign if AI were embedded in the investment process from the start? Working from a real example, tables take one part of their own deal process and rethink it from first principles, what changes in speed, quality and output, what it would take to work that way, and where AI genuinely changes the process rather than just accelerating it. Places are limited. Request yours here: https://lnkd.in/eqcu82Sp #PrivateEquity #AI #ValueCreation #PortfolioOperations
-
Steve Budd liked thisLooking forward to showcasing real practitioner stories and hearing from leaders at the forefront of creating value in their respective markets.Steve Budd liked thisWe're very happy to have the Hitachi Digital Services supporting our New York Private Equity AI Strategy Day on Tuesday, October 13. GlobalLogic, a Hitachi Group company, is a trusted partner in design, data and digital engineering for many of the world's largest and most innovative companies, and has helped build some of the most widely used digital products in the market. Their Global Head of Private Equity, Amit Soni, will moderate The Advantage Showcase: real practitioner stories, twelve minutes each, one common frame, where a handful of operators and deal leaders walk the room through what they built, how they got people to actually use it, and what changed as a result. This format is one of the most valued. If you'd like to join us in New York on 13 October, head to https://lnkd.in/eqcu82Sp #PrivateEquity #AI #ValueCreation #PortfolioOperations
-
Steve Budd liked thisSteve Budd liked thisToday, Glean is a launch partner in OpenAI ’s new B2B marketplace, giving customers another way to bring Glean into their AI stack. We hear it from customers and see it in the field: no single AI tool can do it all. Customers want the best tools for the job, and the freedom to choose without getting locked in. Many enterprises have already made a big commitment to OpenAI. When they want Glean, they usually have to find new budget, add a new vendor, and start procurement from scratch. Now they can put part of their existing OpenAI commitment toward Glean. Same budget, fewer hurdles. We worked closely with the OpenAI team to get this ready, with a focus throughout on making the experience easier for customers. Three things it reinforced for me: 1. Great partnerships remove the friction customers feel, not just the friction between two companies. 2. A marketplace is only as strong as the field behind it. Our sellers are ready to walk customers through this from day one. 3. More choice needs guardrails. As companies add more models and agents, Glean AI Gateway gives IT one place to govern them. Thank you to our partners at OpenAI and to the Glean team who moved fast to make this real. It's a first step, and there's more we'll build together. Already an OpenAI customer and curious about Glean? Find us in the marketplace or message me directly. Blog link in the comments.
-
Steve Budd liked thisSteve Budd liked thisWe're pleased to welcome NetSuite as a Visionary Partner for our Private Equity AI Strategy Day in New York on Tuesday October 13. NetSuite runs the finance and operational backbone of a great many portfolio companies, which puts it right where AI advantage is won or lost: not in isolated pilots, but in the core systems where a business actually plans, reports and makes decisions. At the Strategy Day, Erin Brodie, VP Strategic Partnerships at Oracle NetSuite, joins our opening keynote, What AI Advantage Really Looks Like in Private Equity: the case for the AI-native operating model, what it looks like in practice, and how the best firms are getting there without waiting for the technology to be perfect. Places are limited. Request yours here: https://lnkd.in/eqcu82Sp #PrivateEquity #AI #ValueCreation #PortfolioOperations
-
Steve Budd liked thisSteve Budd liked thisWe're very happy to have the Hitachi Digital Services supporting our New York Private Equity AI Strategy Day on Tuesday, October 13. GlobalLogic, a Hitachi Group company, is a trusted partner in design, data and digital engineering for many of the world's largest and most innovative companies, and has helped build some of the most widely used digital products in the market. Their Global Head of Private Equity, Amit Soni, will moderate The Advantage Showcase: real practitioner stories, twelve minutes each, one common frame, where a handful of operators and deal leaders walk the room through what they built, how they got people to actually use it, and what changed as a result. This format is one of the most valued. If you'd like to join us in New York on 13 October, head to https://lnkd.in/eqcu82Sp #PrivateEquity #AI #ValueCreation #PortfolioOperations
Experience & Education
Licenses & Certifications
Honors & Awards
-
Business Media Brand of the Year 2014
The PPA Awards 2014
Judges comments: Procurement Leaders demonstrates an outstanding business model while taking a well-timed leap into the dark. Here is extremely impressive growth from a business that addresses an important strategic capability. The product development undertaken is bringing the brand much closer to its customer, and the increase in revenues, member numbers, and digital audience shown in just 12 months made this the clear Business Media Brand of the Year.
-
Website of the Year 2014
AOP Awards 2014
A clear winner. Impressive commercial performance which is clearly a result of the product being spot on for its audience.
-
Digital Product of the Year 2013
PPA Independent Publishers Awards
Judges comments: This website's innovative model has resulted in a fantastic performance across the year. The brand engages brilliantly with a difficult audience, through digitally producing and distributing high-value content and information, and owning its conversation.
-
Digital Media Brand of the Year 2013
PPA Digital Publishing Awards
Procurement Leaders was again chosen as the winner amongst a very strong shortlist containing Immediate Media, RBI, Haymarket, Bauer, IPC, Future and UBM. The judges said "A small publisher who is brilliantly leading the way. They have worked hard to improve the relevance of the service to customers, continuously producing high-value, engaging content across different platforms. Top marks too for their wonderfully clean and functional sites. All in all, a unanimous choice".
-
Business Media Brand of the Year 2013
PPA Awards
Procurement Leaders (PL) was chosen amongst a very strong shortlist including brands from global publishers such as Haymarket, RBI, Bauer, Emap and Centaur. The judges said "PL is hugely refreshing, becoming a key part of its community. With a truly global reach, PL is the leader in this market, thoroughly engaging with its members and providing valuable networks for them. A truly impressive winner."
Recommendations received
3 people have recommended Steve
Join now to viewOther similar profiles
Explore more posts
Explore collaborative articles
We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.
Explore MoreOthers named Steve Budd in United Kingdom
46 others named Steve Budd in United Kingdom are on LinkedIn
See others named Steve Budd