Before the M&A Trend Forum officially kicked off at BDO Brussels, a select group of Belgian M&A directors gathered for an exclusive roundtable on one of the most pressing topics in dealmaking today: the impact of AI.
Hosted by Melle Eijckelhoff, founder of the M&A Community Belgium, the session featured Magali Fiechter-Deloof, founder of NextWire and a veteran in AI-driven digital transformation, as the special guest.
"It’s a cliché to say AI is here to stay, but we’ve only just begun", Eijckelhoff opened. "The question isn’t whether AI will change M&A, but how and how fast we can adapt."
Efficiency, insights, or judgment? – How dealmakers really feel about AI
Eijckelhoff started with a simple question: "What’s the first word that comes to mind when you think of AI in M&A?" The answers varied – efficiency, deep search, different insights – but Fiechter-Deloof cut to the core: Judgment.
"AI delivers better outputs, but humans must ask the right questions and make the decisions", she emphasized. While AI is already being used to analyze information memoranda and identify risks and benefits in potential targets, trust remains an issue.
"My team sometimes assumes AI’s output is correct without verification", admitted one director. Another noted, "AI can be 95 percent right, but checking its work often takes longer than doing it myself."
Yet, the mood was cautiously optimistic. One director shared how AI helps pinpoint "pain points" in dossiers faster, while Fiechter-Deloof revealed how it cuts her proposal time by 80 percent – even if the output isn’t perfect. "It’s 90 percent there; I refine the last 10 percent", she said. Pierre Queritet (BDO Legal Belgium) summed it up: "Speed and accuracy both matter. AI struggles with complexity, but we’re still early in the game."
AI as a tool: what changes and what stays human
The discussion then shifted to AI’s role in the M&A workflow. "Searching, analyzing, and assessing targets; these are tasks AI excels at", Eijckelhoff noted. "But what changes in your team? And what can never be outsourced to AI?"
The M&A Directors highlighted faster IM processing, better market insights, and more time for relationship-building. "AI gives me a clearer picture of what I’m buying, so I have more time for coffee meetings! and restaurants" one joked.
Dave Vanhaute (BDO Belgium) agreed AI helps get to meaningful conversations faster, while Fiechter-Deloof stressed that tech is 10 percent of the equation, humans are still 90 percent. "AI has seen more deals than all of us combined. But leadership must understand its potential and keep human judgment central", she said.
She challenged leaders: "When’s the last time you built an AI assistant yourself? You can’t lead a transformation you haven’t experienced."
The future: commodity, competition, or competitive edge?
The group debated whether AI would become a commodity, a Silicon Valley monopoly, or a differentiator. One director argued that organizing high-quality datasets is the real challenge, while another emphasized AI architecture as the foundation for success. "M&A is a people business", they noted. "Get the AI right, and it amplifies your real job: building relationships."
Post-merger integration remains largely unexplored territory for AI. "Culture makes or breaks integrations", one M&A Director said. "But how do we get the right data to predict collaboration issues?" Fiechter-Deloof outlined a three-step approach for leaders:
● Hands-on experience with AI.
● Business redesign to prioritize use cases.
● Building capabilities over time.
From ‘efficiency’ to ‘elevate’: how the conversation shifted
By the end of the session, the words associated with AI had evolved. Where directors initially thought of ‘efficiency’ and ‘speed’, they now spoke of ‘learning’, 'experimentation', ‘alignment’, ‘opportunities’, and ‘elevate’.
"That’s the power of these discussions", Eijckelhoff reflected. "We’re not just talking about AI as a tool; we’re rethinking how it transforms our work."
With a group photo and smiles all around, the directors headed to the plenary session where AI, of course, would remain a hot topic. One thing was clear: The future of M&A isn’t just about deals, but it’s about how we adapt, learn, and lead in an AI-driven world.
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