Believe it or not, it’s already been nearly three years since ChatGPT made its debut. And while artificial intelligence (AI) is more popular than ever, many sectors still struggle with how to navigate its seemingly endless possibilities and practically integrate it into everyday processes. M&A has proven to be one of these industries, with barely over 20% of practitioners harnessing this cutting-edge technology.
To better understand how dealmakers are using AI in Corporate Development specifically, Transaction Advisors Institute surveyed public and large private corporate acquirers in the US market. Let's break down some of their results for this year.
Transaction Advisors Institute's survey found that while networking and intermediaries remain Corporate Development teams’ preferred deal origination methods, direct sourcing is quickly gaining steam. Some 35% of respondents named M&A-focused external databases — including those that are AI-powered — as a key lead source. This marks a huge 167% jump from last year's results.
Relationships will always remain at the heart of dealmaking. However, increased competition and market fragmentation require corp dev teams to turn to more proactive and reliable sourcing methods. Unlike traditional data service provider databases, the ability of the latest sourcing platforms to also help fuel the end-to-end deal flow process, from market mapping to company monitoring, is also likely responsible for such a sharp increase in adoption.
Similar to the rapid increase in direct deal sourcing popularity, the number of corporate acquirers using AI to support these initiatives is about 1.5x higher in 2025 versus 2024, and now constitutes the majority of dealmakers.
The survey dug deeper into corp dev teams’ use of AI to streamline and inform specific sourcing use cases. While the number of respondents harnessing AI to find new targets held steady compared to 2024, 40% now use it to research industry trends and activity, making it the most popular use case of 2025. Preparing market landscapes comes in as a close second, having experienced the most growth year-over-year.
Surprisingly, just 6% of corporate acquirers say they use AI to aid in conference planning. We expect this number to grow significantly this year due to the introduction of AI-powered tools that proactively recommend relevant conferences for teams to attend based on the concentration of attendees that match their specific investment criteria, for example. Harnessing purpose-built GenAI solutions to securely generate personalized outreach to target owners and principals is another key area of opportunity for dealmakers.
As AI capabilities continue to grow and the majority of corporate acquirers just barely scratch the surface of this technology, it’s no surprise that budgets for internal AI company initiatives are increasing. Transaction Advisors Institute found that 25% of survey respondents plan to invest more in 2025 — twice as many as in 2024.
These numbers should raise a massive red flag for corp dev teams that have yet to start exploring AI sourcing use cases and solutions. From deeper domain expertise to more relevant target identification, the benefits of investing in this technology are clear, and the companies that make it a priority will only grow harder to beat.
Want to learn more about how Corporate Development teams are harnessing AI to fuel direct sourcing, and where your organization can focus its efforts to stay competitive? See what else Transaction Advisors Institute found in their survey. Download the full report here.
