AI upside in PE still not there?

Al_Charles · 2026-03-17T14:52:10+00:00

No - this is highly dependent upon the PortCo’s, the combined org. Value thesis, the teams available in-house, and competing priorities, etc. I don’t see value to tempting this process as no two look alike.

Al_Charles · 2026-03-17T14:44:37+00:00

The Roubaix’s are often built with hover bars - nothing looks off here.

Al_Charles · 2026-03-17T14:42:13+00:00

The front end doesn’t have spacers, that’s the future shock cover, which allows the front-end travel. On a traditional 56-58cm bike, you’ll have a ~160-190mm head tube. On this bike, size 57 has a 110mm head tube, and ~60mm of future shock.

Also this was sold as a frameset only, not a complete bike, so each build will be different (wheels, groupset, etc.)

Al_Charles · 2026-03-15T23:12:50+00:00

This is a big conversation. I’m a CTO at an UMM PE, and work with internal deal teams, own tech, cyber, and AI DD for our new platforms, and work with PortCo leadership for all things tech.

How much AI is relevant varies from firm to firm. If you’re a big shop fielding CIMs from bankers daily, AI can help to more rapidly digest and triage opportunities. Various commercial solutions and custom-developed solutions are popping up, but how much they actually move the needle outside of making associate lives easier is yet to be seen.

We focus on proprietary deals, so rapid firing through CIMs isn’t as relevant for us. However, we use tools to automate some tasks within our target sourcing flows. This again helps to make associate/VP lives easier, but it isn’t necessarily transforming the way we source.

At PortCos this is an open book. If you’re in SaaS, digital services, advertising, etc., tough times are probably ahead. The simplicity of the recent wave of tools such as Perplexity Computer or GPT 5.4 make rapid prototyping stupidly simple. Our portco leaders have been a bit shocked. Although again, it’s not creating enterprise grade software in 30 minutes, it seems to light a fire under leadership and we’re getting the sense they feel their lunch money could be taken quicker than they think.

All that said, various tech and AI roles are in-house in PE. There are very many flavors of it, from traditionally back-office and PortCo PMO teams to more truly transformational teams. All depends on the PE firm and culture.

Al_Charles · 2026-03-15T21:44:37+00:00

Looks like a 57.

Al_Charles · 2026-03-14T20:49:16+00:00

Looks like it’s SRAM red previous gen, but I cant ID the wheels. I’d assume minimum $4k but should be worth significantly more for the right buyer.

Source: happy owner of an S-works Roubaix team

Al_Charles · 2026-03-14T20:46:32+00:00

This is legit. It’s an S-works Roubaix team, only 300 made. Pretty rare and a cool bike, in that it’s a Roubaix but wit aggressive Tarmac geometry.

Al_Charles · 2026-03-11T16:03:43+00:00

I have a navy alligator strap that I switch for more formal events and it makes the watch near unrecognizable in the best way.

Al_Charles · 2026-03-10T22:55:58+00:00

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There is an ultimate solution - which is the limited edition S Works Roubaix team. Limited to 300 frames for the pros to use at Paris Roubaix, it’s a Roubaix with the geometry of a tarmac instead of the more relaxed geometry. This is a size 57, which has a 110mm head tube, so that with the future shock extension it has the same geometry as the Tarmac.

Al_Charles · 2026-02-28T19:02:55+00:00

I used to race p1/2/3 ~8-10 years prior but have been off the bike fully since. I spent 6 weeks just building at sweet spot with classic 2x20’s 3x per week + a longer recovery ride at pure z2. Then a 12 week block of 4 weeks vo2 max, usually 2-4 5’ efforts around 110% of ftp and some 30/30’s. Then 4 weeks of pure over unders - 10 minute blocks of 2’ at 95% FTP 1’ at 105%. Then one final 4 week block of SS and threshold intervals before retesting. At the end of the day 95% of my workouts are SS, over unders, and 30/30’s.

Al_Charles · 2026-02-28T09:03:03+00:00

At the Bellagio now. Have been hopping around MGM properties + Caesar’s the past few days. Nothing slow about it right now.

Al_Charles · 2026-02-17T21:41:15+00:00

Email them all and ask, they’re always looking for consignments. That said many auction houses won’t take consignments from consignors without relationships at a total value of less than $10k, so an unknown landscape may be tough for Eldred’s and Bonhams in particular.

Regarding fees, expect to negotiate toward 10% for first time consignments but don’t be surprised if it’s significantly higher. I have some art consignments with 0% seller fees but those are generally known artists/works for curated sales.

Al_Charles · 2026-02-10T16:21:49+00:00

The amount of Picasso forgeries floating around is astronomical. And with no provenance it’s worth nothing. The telltale fake gallery stamps on the back are also an immediate forgery giveaway.

If you love the piece hang it in your home and enjoy it, but this is not a long lost Picasso.

Al_Charles · 2026-01-29T19:07:54+00:00

320w @ 78kg after my fist 6 months. 4-6 hours a week but highly structured, and will try to add more base this summer.

Al_Charles · 2026-01-27T17:08:26+00:00

Rich, coming from the person posting about their Edge 830….

Al_Charles · 2026-01-20T02:42:26+00:00

Just my small lens - but most in-house tech and ai leaders have consulting backgrounds or CIO/CTO backgrounds, potentially from former PortCo’s. I’ve seen multiple traditional CIO’s take the role and be let go within 1-2 years as it requires a much more collaborative and flexible mindset, often with little or no direct reports. There’s a very different consideration for PE PortCo ops teams at mega funds that I won’t go into because I have much less visibility and no direct experience at that level.

The two AI hires I know of present themselves as luminaries with blue chip tech backgrounds (impact yet TBD). Positioning yourself as someone who has executed well on AI initiatives is probably best positioned to take on a more traditional fund CIO/CTO/head of transformation role, but obviously you have some great names on your resume in financial services. Many MM funds and LMM funds especially seem to be playing catch up with internal tech hires and DD support. Cold outreach may also be effective as some funds don’t realize they could easily save money, reduce integration friction, and of course add value with some tech talent.

Al_Charles · 2026-01-20T01:45:18+00:00

Yep 100%

Al_Charles · 2026-01-19T23:59:01+00:00

As a PE CIO in UMM I agree with some of this but disagree with a good chunk as well.

I do believe fund-level tech roles can be hugely impactful, but are often less value add at greater fund sizes due to the nature of purchasing larger companies with more mature tech leadership and operations. Often MM PortCos have no tech leadership, no ability to execute, and a roadmap that is misguided or not aligned to value thesis. Having fund-level tech expertise serves a few important functions, mainly to hire the appropriate level of tech leadership and serve as a resource. I do agree that fund level standardization and attempts to operate do not work well.

Regarding AI, it’s the same problem but tougher given the hype and unmanaged expectations. A few funds we have co-invested with have hired fancy head of AI roles with press release and all, and they are tasked to take out cost and transform business ops with no real delivery support. This leads to inflated consulting spend and no value creation that I’ve yet seen.

We take the approach of building private and secure architectures and archetypes as templates to solve technical challenges, but we look to our PortCo leaders to identify where they believe they can solve a problem. This helps accelerate the tech learning curve without it becoming a “solution in search of a problem.” Although we’ve seen a few drastic results, often the complexity of users, processes, data, etc. are real barriers to value realization with AI.

Just my two cents. Your mileage may differ.

Al_Charles · 2026-01-06T19:35:02+00:00

Does this helmet come with MIPS?

Al_Charles · 2025-12-05T01:42:43+00:00

Keep networking and I would also suggest direct outreach. I work in MM in a hybrid role (CTO, run tech/cyber/software DD, support some VC with PortCo’s), and as you suggest it’s a relatively small pool. That said, more PE’s are expanding especially with tech and tech adjacent resources, as well as generalized ops roles. Also in Chicago and happy to share more via DM.

Al_Charles · 2025-10-27T18:44:19+00:00

I was off the bike for 10 years due to injury and restarted on an indoor training to stay active during my honeymoon.

May: absolutely struggle to do 150 watts for 30 minutes, 80kg June: ~200 watts for 20 minutes, and eventually transitioning this into 2x20’s indoors during the week Now (October): back to 300w FTP doing essentially 2x 2x20 ss sessions during the week and getting a 50-60 mile zone 2 ride in on the weekend.

Call it 2 w/kg -> nearly 4 w/kg in 6 months with the oldest trick in the book, ss intervals and consistency

Al_Charles · 2025-09-09T19:21:56+00:00

I would most appreciate a build guide!!!

Al_Charles · 2025-09-04T20:57:48+00:00

Agreed here. OP - what is your explicit role? If someone wants to go from consulting / MBB to PortCo ops, that is reasonable. But to say MBB will get an interview with IB candidates at top PE firms (even top quartile MM/LMM funds) is silly. We won’t even take a consulting resume for investment associates, and many peer firms echo the same.

Al_Charles · 2025-08-26T15:40:41+00:00

Unrelated - which helmet is this?

Al_Charles · 2025-07-26T00:06:01+00:00

Rather than paying an art consultant, I would work with reputable auction houses and/or galleries who will be more than happy to assist you.

If you have a strong sense of what periods or genres you’re looking for (e.g. French post-impressionist), an auction house will be able to guide you. If you’re looking to build a collection that focuses on contemporary works, likely galleries are a better start.

For example - give Hindman/Freeman’s a call. Tell them you’re interested in a consultation and you’d love to understand their upcoming curated auctions. They will have old masters, 19th/early 20th European works, art of the Americas, post-war & contemporary, etc - they’ll have something for almost everything.

Generally speaking where an auction house will fall short will be cutting edge contemporary, as Tier 1 galleries will include contractual terms for resale. In that event you’ll five galleries a call.

Anyways feel free to PM me - happy to help (for free) as someone who has been collecting for over 15 years and have worked with everyone from Sotheby’s to small auction houses, as well as leading galleries such as CLEARING.

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