Private equity pitches AI as saviour for pandemic-era software bets
Major PE firms used the Milken Institute conference to position AI as the solution to overvalued software investments made during the 2020-2022 remote-work boom, with Ares, Blackstone, and Blue Owl deploying proprietary scorecards to reassure investors about portfolio protection. Private credit firms face concentrated exposure to PE-backed software companies just as AI threatens to cannibalise their revenue streams, triggering redemption pressure at retail-focused business development companies. IBM's $4.5 billion in productivity gains from AI across 400 workflows serves as the proof-of-concept PE firms cite for portfolio-wide deployment. The narrative masks deeper anxiety about whether AI will enhance software company value or destroy it entirely.
Sources
- Private credit and AI took center stage at Milken — Finimize
- Golden or garbage: Milken signals new private credit era — Business Times
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