The 30-Day AI Value Creation Sprint
The bridge from board-level AI pressure to deployable portfolio-company workflow automation. A fixed-fee, time-boxed engagement for a single portfolio company: map its real processes, prioritize the AI use cases by business value, and hand the management team scoped implementation work they can execute next quarter — not another AI strategy deck.
Your Value Creation Plan Has “AI” on Every Page. Now What?
Every PE firm has an AI line item in the value creation plan. What most firms don’t have is a way to translate that line item into scoped, deployable work at the portfolio-company level — prioritized by business value, sequenced against the hold-period clock, and specific enough that the management team can move next quarter without another six-figure strategy engagement per portco.
The hold clock is running. LPs want AI commentary in the next update. The operating partner wants concrete deliverables, not a pilot that “shows promise.” You don’t need another strategy deck. You need scoped implementation work.
McKinsey-style decks
Strategy binders full of "opportunities" with no scope, no sequencing, and no one on the hook to ship.
AI strategy decks that stop at the strategy
Hundred-slide decks naming AI use cases without scoping the implementation work behind any of them. The management team is still left guessing which workflow gets automated first, by whom, and on what stack.
One-portco pilots that never replicate
Custom engagements at one company that produce no reusable playbook for the other 14 portcos in the fund.
Pilots scoped in PowerPoint, not production
Initiatives that look clean in a 30-page deck but break the moment engineering tries to write a statement of work.
The Sprint, at a Glance
The 30-Day Sprint, Week by Week
Four weeks. One portfolio company. A scoped roadmap the operating partner can put in front of the board.
Function Mapping
Structured 1:1 working sessions with each functional lead at the portfolio company — finance, ops, sales, customer success, supply chain, HR. Forward-deployed engineers record and transcribe every call. No pre-sales theater, no surveys, no slide decks.
Deep Process Mapping
Transcripts become visual process diagrams — every step, handoff, system, and decision point. Operators see how work actually flows across functions for the first time. Where manual effort, rework, and inter-system gaps are quietly eroding EBITDA becomes obvious.
AI Hotspot Analysis & Prioritization
AI-assisted analysis across the portfolio company’s process maps. Use cases are prioritized by business value first — projected EBITDA impact, hold-period fit, and how clean the implementation path is — then pressure-tested against the fund’s value creation thesis. ROI scoring is grounded in the actual workflow, not a generic AI-opportunity matrix.
Roadmap, Scoping & Executive Playback
We write deployment-ready scopes for the top 2 initiatives — specific enough that procurement and the portco CTO can move immediately — build an EBITDA impact model tied to your hold-period timeline, and deliver an executive playback to the operating partner and portco leadership. The output is scoped implementation work, not another AI strategy deck.
What the Operating Partner Walks Away With
Six concrete artifacts. No waiting for a Phase 2. No “we’ll send the report next quarter.”
Portfolio Company Process Maps
8-12 end-to-end process diagrams covering the functions that drive cost and revenue at this portco. Built from recorded working sessions with the team that owns each process.
AI Hotspot Analysis
Every automation opportunity scored on ROI potential, implementation complexity, system dependencies, and hold-period fit. Each hotspot includes a specific recommendation with estimated effort and EBITDA impact.
Prioritized 90-Day Roadmap
A sequenced implementation plan showing what to tackle first, second, and third — based on dependencies, quick wins, and cumulative EBITDA. Designed for the operating partner and the portco board, not a technical audience.
Deployment-Ready Scopes
Detailed scopes for the top 2 initiatives so the portco can procure and deploy immediately — either with Proactive Logic or with its own internal team. No waiting for another discovery phase.
EBITDA Impact Model
Projected margin lift per initiative, mapped to your hold-period timeline so you can plug numbers into LP reporting and the next value-creation plan update.
Full Transcripts & Playback Deck
Every working session transcribed. A single executive playback deck summarizing findings for the operating partner and portco leadership. Everything yours, regardless of what you decide next.
Is This the Right Fit?
The sprint works when four conditions are true. If they’re not, we’ll say so on the intake call and point you somewhere better.
Middle-market portfolio company
$50M - $500M in revenue with enough process complexity that manual work is a real margin drag.
18-48 months of hold period remaining
Long enough to deploy and measure impact, short enough that speed matters.
Operating partner or PortCo Ops team driving value creation
A clear owner for the engagement outcome — not just an LP reporting line.
A COO or CFO willing to spend ~12 hours over 4 weeks
The sprint depends on portco leadership time. Without that, every engagement produces shelfware.
Why This Sprint Works Where Others Haven’t
Engineers, Not Salespeople
Your first interaction is a working session led by the people who do the actual work. No account executives, no pre-sales consultants, no bait-and-switch after the statement of work is signed.
Portfolio-Wide by Design
The output is built to replicate. What works at portco #1 becomes the starting position for portcos #2, #3, and #4 — so your value creation team compounds instead of starting from zero every time.
Process-First, Then AI
We map workflows before we pick tools. That’s the only reason the deliverable survives contact with production — because the AI choice is grounded in what the process actually needs.
Fixed Fee, Fixed Timeline
One fee, one month, one scoped roadmap. No time-and-materials drift, no surprise change orders. Scoped to portco size — we’ll confirm the exact number on the intake call.
Scope a 30-Day AI Value Creation Sprint
Tell us about the portfolio company, the hold-period clock, and where you suspect manual work is masking margin. We will follow up within 24 hours to confirm fit, pricing, and a start date.
- 30-day fixed-fee engagement against one portfolio company — no time-and-materials drift
- AI use cases prioritized by business value and hold-period fit, not vendor brochures
- Deployment-ready scopes for the top 2 initiatives — the management team can move immediately
Ready to Scope a Sprint for One of Your Portcos?
Tell us about the portfolio company, the hold-period timeline, and where you suspect the margin is hiding. We’ll confirm fit, price, and start date on a 30-minute call.
Schedule Your Discovery Call