Insights for better decisions

Global M&A activity entered 2026 at exceptional scale. Reuters reported that announced global M&A reached $2.8 trillion in the first half of 2026, up 48% year over year. Closing a transaction, however, does not answer the operating question that follows: what should actually become common across the combined organization, and what should deliberately remain different?

AI is moving from a productivity tool into the decision architecture of organizations. Stanford's 2026 AI Index reports that 88% of surveyed organizations used AI in at least one business function in 2025. Deloitte's 2026 Global Human Capital Trends survey reports that 60% of executives regularly use AI to support decisions, while only 5% describe their organizations as leading on the issue of AI-enabled decision making. The governance question is therefore no longer whether

Closing an acquisition is a transaction milestone. It is not an operating outcome. Once the deal closes, leaders must convert an investment thesis into a functioning organization while protecting customers, cash, critical capabilities, and day-to-day performance.

AI adoption is accelerating faster than most organizations are redesigning the work around it.

Growth can improve revenue while simultaneously making a company harder to manage. The warning signs are often treated as isolated problems: late reports, inconsistent decisions, rework, unclear accountability, or a founder who still approves nearly everything. Together, they often indicate one underlying constraint: the organization has outgrown the informal management methods that worked when it was smaller.