DealMAX 2024 Recap: Key Takeaways for Middle-Market M&A

The SS&C Intralinks team recently attended the DealMAX 2024 conference in Las Vegas. The three-day event focuses on addressing the most pressing challenges for middle-market dealmakers, while looking ahead at what’s to come in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for the rest of 2024. With sessions covering topics ranging from the impact of rising interest rates to artificial intelligence (AI) technology and cybersecurity threats, the event is a showcase for innovative solutions and strategies aimed at M&A leaders who want to stay on the pulse of what’s ahead.

 Along with a chance to dive into these topics, Intralinks unveiled DealCentre AI™ , which drew significant interest and an overwhelmingly positive reception from attendees who stopped by for live demos. DealCentre AI is a purpose-built, AI-powered dealmaking platform that can speed and streamline deals like never before — all within a seamless, single–platform experience. The Intralinks team also led a pavilion session and participated in a few other thought-provoking sessions.

Here are three key observations from the event:

1. AI is already transforming dealmaking, and it’s only going to continue

In a pavilion session entitled “Intelligent Deals: Exploring AI’s Transformation of M&A Strategy and Execution,” Intralinks’ Tom Tibbs kicked off the discussion with an overview of AI’s impact on M&A and new approaches that can help streamline dealmaking. Intralinks’ Ronjohn Dodd joined Tom for a fireside chat about a recent Intralinks study involving dealmakers. The study revealed how dealmakers are currently using AI, challenges they’re facing and strategies they plan to use to prepare for the future. A few highlights included that 92 percent of the study’s respondents said they believe AI can help expedite deal transactions, and 63 percent believe AI can offer significant time and resource savings.

The key takeaway from this chat was that AI is reshaping M&A by offering innovative solutions to traditional challenges, empowering organizations to make better, more informed decisions, and unlocking new opportunities for value creation and growth. Organizations that embrace AI stand to gain a competitive advantage in navigating the complexities of the ever-changing M&A landscape.

2. Overwhelmingly positive reception for DealCentre AI  

The DealCentre AI booth had a steady stream of visitors with the sales team providing continuous, in-depth demos. Although we offered the opportunity for visitors to see a private demo on another floor to address their specific questions, most were far too eager to see the product in action to wait and asked to see the demo immediately at the booth.

Responses were overwhelmingly positive overall, with many particularly intrigued by how DealCentre AI’s capabilities could specifically impact their current deal lifecycles. Attendees who visited for a demo were highly impressed by the platform’s simplicity and user-friendly design, and the Intralinks team received feedback including comments like, “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for,” and “I’d start using this right now tomorrow.”

3. AI is here to stay — but the human element remains crucial.

During his keynote, Brian Belski, chief investment strategist of the Bank of Montreal and CNBC contributor, underscored the focus on AI. He emphasized that AI is not just hype; it’s real and its potential to transform nearly every industry is only just beginning to be realized. He added that technology will continue to power market growth despite the ongoing challenges (e.g. rates, inflation, geopolitics, etc.), and encouraged the audience to ignore the noise and stay focused on long-term investment objectives. 

Other sessions emphasized the urgency of focusing on AI, with actionable insights on how to get started by focusing on smaller initiatives with specific use cases and a targeted ROI objective. Another recurring theme was the “the human factor.” AI is still seen as an assistant to help facilitate workflows and processes. While AI will continue to improve over time, human intervention, oversight and judgment remain necessary to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Conclusion

The insights and sentiment shared at DealMAX confirmed that AI’s potential is only just beginning to be applied to the M&A world. There was a clear consensus that the time to leverage AI is now due to its substantial benefits and ROI for dealmakers. This was further confirmed by one of the quotes conveyed at the session, “The train hasn’t yet left the station — but it’s boarding.”

The overwhelmingly positive response to DealCentre AI underscores the increasingly pivotal role AI will play in the future of dealmaking. As AI propels M&A dealmaking forward, it will drive efficiency and innovation, becoming a useful tool to augment human capabilities rather than replace them.