PE fund rolled coding agents across portfolio: only 1 of 5 workflows worked
alex_verem · x · 2026-09-22
A consultant shares an enterprise AI deployment lesson: a PE fund pushed coding agents across its portfolio companies and got only one repeatable workflow out of five, with the partner calling it "harder than expected."
The author proposes a three-tier framework:
- Use: nearly everyone should eventually use the tools
- Build: a handful should build workflows
- Own: one "AI champion" (an ops manager with an IT degree, a hands-on co-founder, or a domain-savvy analyst) owns what gets built
Key claim: these are three different goals requiring three different plans, with a central group — typically one senior engineer paired with a client-side person — doing the building.
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