Insights from the PEI Operating Partners Forum Europe, London
At the PEI Operating Partners Forum Europe in London, Finatal’s Max Yish chaired a panel on a question dominating portfolio discussions:
Where is AI actually delivering value in HR and talent and where is it still falling short?
In this article, Max shares his perspective from moderating the panel, bringing together insights from Claire Hogg (General Atlantic), Giovanni Romero (Providence Equity Partners), and Mike Shinya (Churchill Partners), on where AI is genuinely moving the needle across portfolio companies today, and where it’s not.
Efficiency is real, but still the first phase
Across portfolios, the most consistent impact of AI is in speed and productivity.
Claire Hogg pointed to increasingly mature use cases within HR: automating employee queries, streamlining hiring workflows, and reducing administrative burden. In some cases, this is translating into material improvements in time-to-hire.
More broadly, Giovanni Romero highlighted a shift happening beneath the surface:
“People are needing less hours to do the same type of work… revenue per employee is actually starting to move.”
These gains are not just about cost. By freeing up capacity, teams can refocus on growth and value creation. But as the panel made clear, this remains largely incremental progress, not transformation.
Hiring quality is more complex and still evolving
While speed has improved, quality is harder to measure and harder to prove.
AI is increasingly supporting hiring decisions through better data capture, interview transcription, and analysis, but it’s not replacing human judgment. As Claire stressed, it should remain a decision-support tool, not a decision-maker.
“Time is one measure. Accuracy has got to ultimately be another.”
At the same time, Giovanni highlighted a more fundamental shift: AI is changing what ‘good’ talent looks like.
In hiring senior technology roles, candidates with deep experience are no longer automatically the strongest fit. Those who have adapted quickly to AI-driven environments, often in the last 12 to18 months, are increasingly outperforming more traditional profiles.
The implication is clear: AI is not just accelerating hiring, it’s reshaping the definition of talent itself.
The real impact sits beyond HR
One of the clearest takeaways from the panel was that AI’s biggest impact is often outside the HR function entirely.
Mike Shinya noted that the most advanced deployment is typically seen in engineering and go-to-market functions, where AI is already embedded in day-to-day execution:
“Where I’m seeing AI being implemented… is in the GTM and in the engineering.”
As roles evolve in these areas, the knock-on effect is a reconfiguration of work itself. AI is taking on execution-heavy tasks, while humans move toward oversight, judgment, and problem-solving.
This is beginning to reshape organisational structures. As Claire outlined, portfolios are starting to see flatter organisations, with fewer layers and less reliance on traditional hierarchies:
“The idea of a pyramid probably doesn’t need to exist anymore.”
For talent leaders, this shifts the challenge: from filling roles to helping define entirely new operating models.
Execution is the constraint, not ambition
Despite clear momentum, delivery remains uneven. Mike was particularly direct, drawing on broader industry data suggesting that 80 to 90% of AI projects are failing to meet their original objectives.
His point wasn’t that the opportunity isn’t real, but that many initiatives are being pushed forward without the foundations in place, often driven by pressure to “do something” with AI rather than a clear execution roadmap.
Across the panel, three recurring barriers emerged: data readiness; capability gaps; and leadership ownership
Claire emphasised that CEO-led transformation is a key differentiator, with the most successful organisations combining clear top-down direction with bottom-up experimentation.
Giovanni added a further challenge: a fundamental timing mismatch between technology and organisations.
“The speed at which technology is moving is daily, weekly… versus the speed at which we can change organisations, which is quarters, sometimes more than that.”
This gap is forcing many portfolio companies into more reactive, short-term decision-making, often deploying AI in pockets rather than through coordinated transformation, making adoption fragmented and ROI harder to isolate.
From automation to foresight
Looking ahead, the discussion shifted toward a more advanced opportunity: prediction, not just efficiency.
Mike reframed the conversation through the lens of “behavioural intelligence” – using AI to anticipate outcomes rather than report on them.
This could mean predicting: flight risk in leadership teams; cultural friction during transformation; and misalignment during value creation or M&A:
“Not to report what is going wrong… but to predict what’s going to happen.”
For private equity, where value is often created – or lost – at moments of organisational stress, this capability has clear potential. But for most, it remains aspirational rather than operational.
Progress, but not yet transformation
The panel’s conclusion was clear: AI is delivering real value today but unevenly, and mostly at the margins.
Efficiency gains are visible, productivity is improving and early shifts in operating models are emerging.
But transformation, particularly within talent, remains incomplete.
The defining challenge is not identifying use cases, it’s executing them consistently across the portfolio.
Closing perspective
For investors and operators, AI is fast becoming a core lever of value creation, but one that sits at the intersection of technology, talent and organisational design.
Moderating this discussion, what stood out most was not just the scale of the opportunity, but the growing gap between ambition and execution. As Claire, Giovanni and Mike each highlighted in different ways, the edge won’t come from tools alone. It’ll come from the ability to redefine roles, identify the right talent to operate in new environments, and actually implement change at pace across the portfolio.
That’s where the talent agenda becomes decisive and where outcomes will ultimately be won or lost.
My thanks to Claire, Giovanni and Mike for a candid and highly practical discussion.