Three takeaways on AI in M&A from DealSourcing 2025

M&A has always been unpredictable. Around 75% of deals fail to achieve their original objectives, whether that’s boosting post-acquisition growth, cutting costs or maintaining shareholder value. Now, AI is beginning to change the game, giving dealmakers faster insights and the ability to make better-informed decisions.

These innovations framed much of the debate at DealSourcing 2025, Germany’s premier corporate finance conference. Over 1,000 participants, from M&A advisories, private equity funds and investment banks to law firms, explored how AI is reshaping dealmaking. 

Here’s what we learned from these discussions. 

1. AI is accelerating deals

AI is already speeding up the pace of transactions. Virtual data rooms (VDRs), a fundamental tool in M&A deals, have evolved from simple repositories into intelligent platforms. Smart search functions scan hundreds of documents, summarizing content and answering specific queries with referenced sources. 

Dealmakers also benefit from AI-assisted redaction and real-time translation in almost 100  languages, allowing cross-border teams to review documents instantly.

On their own, these tools may seem modest. But together, they remove hours of repetitive work. McKinsey estimates that by 2030, in a midpoint adoption scenario, up to 30% of current hours worked could be automated, accelerated by generative AI. 

In practical terms, this could accelerate the shift to shorter deal timelines: our research shows global M&A deals fell in average duration by 4% in 2024, the first decline since 2019. 

Looking ahead just a few months, we expect AI in VDRs to take on more complex tasks. For example, dealmakers could use it to quickly identify all ESG-related topics across all documents. Or coordinate Q&A processes by suggesting answers based on prior responses. 

All this promises to make due diligence faster, more accurate and more comprehensive.

2. Automation is transforming teams

The automation of these tasks, which were traditionally performed by analysts and interns, is reshaping the structure and responsibilities of deal teams. 

In our panel session at DealSourcing, our speakers suggested that this doesn’t mean fewer opportunities for junior talent, but different ones: instead of spending their early years buried in routine work, they are being pushed more quickly into higher-value activities like market analysis, scenario modelling and client interaction. 

This has the potential to flatten the traditional pyramid in highly productive ways. Firms can pursue more deals simultaneously, with junior staff contributing more directly to insight generation and senior staff focusing their time on decision-making, negotiation strategy and integration planning. 

How we value and reward team members will also change, because automation is raising expectations for what a “successful” deal looks like. With AI surfacing risks and opportunities earlier, stakeholders will expect fewer surprises and a higher bar for value creation. 

The most effective professionals will combine classic dealmaking expertise with the ability to interpret and challenge AI-generated insights.

3. But some are taking a cautious approach

Despite its potential, AI is not universally embraced by dealmakers. Concerns over data quality and integrity, the risk of bias and the potential for systems to become obsolete as regulations evolve are tempering appetite for innovation. 

Some are also finding that while individual use of tools like ChatGPT is common, organizations are struggling to build AI tools into their team workflows and processes at scale.

As a result, some conversations around AI at DealSourcing 2025 were relatively basic, focusing on prompt-writing rather than practical deployment.

Another frustration for deal teams is that their biggest challenges, such as poor-quality financial data and the rapid development of cross-border regulations, can’t be solved by AI alone. The technology excels at automating routine tasks, summarizing documents and highlighting patterns, but interpreting data and making decisions remain human responsibilities. 

A tipping point for M&A

Dealmakers are on the verge of once-in-a-generation change, with companies already using AI tools like Ideals VDR to gain speed and sharper insights. The challenge is designing workflows that combine AI’s analysis and insights with human judgment and critical thinking, which remain essential to M&A. 

Doing this effectively will help dealmakers separate real-world applications from hype, and in doing so, boost their chances of success.