M&A predictions: how AI and technology could reshape deals

1. Use of tech by regulators

Merger control and FDI authorities adoption of new technologies might make regulatory clearance both faster and more intrusive. While no-issue transactions could clear almost instantly, strategically important deals may face unprecedented scrutiny — such as whether evidence regarding future benefits of a transaction seems plausible.

This will further increase the need to incorporate regulatory strategy from the start — especially on more strategic deals, which will likely require enhanced upfront assessment and preparation to match a more intrusive assessment by merger or FDI authorities.

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2. AI governance at the heart of DD

Today, cybersecurity is a standard diligence workstream. In the next few years, I expect AI governance to be viewed the same way. Buyers will routinely assess how a target develops, procures, governs, and deploys AI systems, and whether those systems comply with an increasingly complex patchwork of global regulations. Strong AI governance programs will become a competitive advantage; weak programs may become deal obstacles.

Expect to see more acquisitions driven by access to specialized datasets, AI talent, proprietary models, sector-specific AI applications, and industry expertise rather than traditional scale or market-share considerations. As AI-generated code becomes more common, competitive advantage is likely to come from the quality of human oversight, judgment and problem-solving applied to it — these will be crucial to good DD.

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3. M&A becomes a continuous process for many

AI is already accelerating contract review, financial analysis, benchmarking, diligence and document production. Integrated ERP systems and automated reporting could also move diligence from a data-room ‘snapshot’ towards real-time verification, making well-run businesses effectively permanently transaction-ready.

AI could continuously analyze markets, corporate disclosures, patents, supply chains and other datasets to identify potential targets and divestment opportunities. Ten years from now, origination, preparation, diligence and execution may therefore become parts of a much more continuous M&A process. A critical enabler will be how the insurance market responds to this change, especially around W&I/warranty and reps cover.

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4. Technology itself becomes the business model

AI, cloud services and interoperable software and technology services might also make unowned capabilities easier to build, rent or access through partnerships. Businesses will increasingly need to decide which technological capabilities are sufficiently strategic that they need to own them, driving acquisitions around proprietary technology, specialized models, cybersecurity, infrastructure and technical expertise.

If revenues, customer behavior, IP usage and asset performance can increasingly be measured in real time, transaction consideration and risk allocation could be linked much more precisely to observable outcomes. That changes what we think of when we talk about ‘acquisitions’ and deal structures — although the legal ramifications of these more complex structures will made significant demands of deal-doers and how evidence is verified.

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5. Deals democratize - and so might finance 

Better information, automated diligence and technology-enabled investment platforms could reduce some of the advantages historically enjoyed by large institutional acquirers and broaden participation by private capital, family offices, sovereign investors and new investment vehicles.

Over a longer horizon, tokenization, digital ownership registers and programmable payment mechanisms could make it easier to divide and finance particular assets, infrastructure or cashflows among different investors. This could blur traditional boundaries between M&A, private equity, private credit and capital markets.

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6. Judgements will be critical

Law firms’ role will increasingly be to determine ‘what matters’, structure increasingly complex transactions, allocate risk, negotiate difficult points and navigate regulatory, geopolitical and governance constraints. As transactions combine M&A, financing, IP, data and strategic partnerships in less conventional ways, experienced lawyers may increasingly act as transaction architects and strategic advisors.

The paradox may be that the more technology commoditizes the mechanics of M&A, the more valuable genuinely experienced judgement becomes.

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Conclusion

Technology is changing M&A — not by replacing fundamentals, such as market opportunity, synergies or EBITDA, but by relocating them. Questions of control, value, ability to execute and integration still matter. What has changed is where those issues now sit.

More value — and much more deal upside — today resides in data, code, talent and digital infrastructure. Tech creates more risk, too: future market defensibility, the impact of AI, and possible regulatory intervention. More execution risk lurks in confidentiality controls, insurer-acceptable diligence, cross-border compliance and the practical retention of key people.

That is why the legal role in M&A is expanding. Law firms are not just being asked to document transactions more efficiently. They are being asked to help clients decide what exactly they are acquiring, whether the legal structure matches the strategic objective, whether the price can be supported by the rights and liabilities identified in diligence, whether regulatory exposure has been fully mapped, and whether post-deal arrangements are strong enough to protect the value once the ink is dry.

Technology is also supercharging the capacity of lawyers to deliver value in deals. From dozens of contract reviews to thousands; from bespoke agreements over specific IP or continuity of talent, to wholesale, thorough and speedy assessment and delivery of terms that will safeguard value; from uncertainty around the regulatory implications of the tech involved in a deal, to clarity.

On bigger deals this means more detail, managed faster and more efficiently, helping dealmakers deliver on agile global strategies. But it also means much smaller deals can now attract the kind of forensic evaluation, risk management and legal certainties that in previous generations were only viable at scale.

It’s this democratization of deal-making, more than anything, that will drive M&A in the future. Technology is not just changing M&A strategy. It is changing the legal work that makes strategy executable.

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