Drawing on live system testing rather than management reporting, the piece outlines DataDiligence’s two-step approach: first establishing whether the data foundations are sound, then testing what is real, feasible and scalable against the investment thesis. It explores common red flags such as data debt, disconnected systems and inflated metrics, and explains how early clarity on data can materially affect cost, speed and value creation over the hold period.
The article concludes that sustainable competitive advantage will increasingly come from proprietary, accurate and connected data — and that validating these foundations at diligence stage is essential for pricing conviction and credible AI-led growth plans.
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Diligence
REAL DEALS - Due Diligence Report 2025: The Data Advantage
In this Real Deals expert commentary, Chelsea Wilkinson explains why data and AI diligence is becoming a critical source of conviction in private equity investing. As growth strategies increasingly depend on analytics, automation and AI, the article sets out why technology diligence alone is no longer sufficient — and how weaknesses in data quality, structure and connectivity can undermine execution, scale and valuation.
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