AI Now Runs the Deal Room — Trust Will Pick the Winners

A new global study of 1,000 senior dealmakers finds AI embedded across M&A. The edge no longer comes from adopting it — but from governing it.

Human-only dealmaking is no longer defensible. Sixty-two percent of senior dealmakers say so outright, and 71% believe firms that ignore AI today will struggle to compete within five years. AI has crossed from experiment to infrastructure in mergers and acquisitions — and the next divide won't be between firms that use it and firms that don't. It will be between firms that trust it and firms that can't.

That's the through-line of The New Deal Team, a new report from Datasite developed with FT Longitude — the specialist research studio of the Financial Times Group — based on a survey of 1,000 senior dealmakers across 27 countries.

AI is mainstream in M&A

96% of dealmakers are using or exploring AI to source and screen opportunities. Half now run AI inside due diligence — the stage delivering the highest reported ROI in the deal cycle. The warning is just as loud: 71% expect AI holdouts to fall behind within five years.

It's moving outcomes, not just workflows

43% say AI is already making better deal decisions than humans in some scenarios. 24% credit AI with completing a deal they'd otherwise have missed. 66% say it helps de-risk transactions across the lifecycle. This is no longer a productivity story. It's a strategy story.

But trust is the constraint

Accuracy (71%) and security (70%) rank as the two most important requirements for AI in dealmaking — ahead of speed, ahead of cost. 58% lean on human review and validation to trust what the machine produces. Adoption is table stakes. Confidence is the moat.

Human judgment is appreciating, not depreciating

As AI absorbs the process-heavy work, dealmakers say the hardest things to automate are becoming the most valuable: negotiation and relationship management, strategic judgment and prioritization, reading trust, intent and credibility, deciding under uncertainty, and owning accountability for high-stakes calls. Nearly half — 45% — say the decision to sign should always stay human.

Governance is the new edge — and the boardroom is the last frontier

24% believe poor use of AI could jeopardize major deals within five years. 27% still aren't using AI for board reporting — the final room AI hasn't fully entered. The firms pulling ahead are the ones writing the rules before the deal, not during the dispute.

"AI is becoming indispensable in dealmaking and investing, but adoption alone isn't the advantage," said Raj Bakhru, General Manager of Blueflame AI. "The real challenge is ensuring AI outputs are accurate, secure and trusted. Strong governance, transparent workflows and human oversight are what determine whether AI creates value or introduces risk. The firms that succeed will be those that build trust into every AI-powered decision."

For Datasite, that's the whole thesis. The company has spent 26 years building the secure infrastructure that moves private-market transactions — and its expanding portfolio, from sell-side virtual data rooms to buy-side intelligence (Grata), agentic AI applications (Blueflame AI) and board governance (Sherpany), is built to give dealmakers exactly what the research says they now demand: AI they can trust, inside workflows they control. The firms that treat trust as infrastructure — not an afterthought — are the ones the study says will pull ahead.

The finding travels well beyond the deal room. In every category where AI now mediates the answer — from investment diligence to consumer research — the winners are the ones building trust, transparency and human oversight into the system before the stakes are highest. Adoption is the entry fee. Governance is the advantage.

About the report: Datasite commissioned FT Longitude, the specialist research and content studio of the Financial Times Group, to survey 1,000 dealmakers at the C-suite or C-1 level across 27 countries in March 2026. Respondents spanned corporate development, private equity, law, accounting and professional services, each with decision-making responsibility in at least three deals over the previous 24 months. Download The New Deal Team report.