Exclusive insights from Magali Fiechter-Deloof, founder of Nextwire, on how AI is reshaping dealmaking, leadership, and post-merger integration. Her vision: “AI transformation is 90 percent people and 10 percent technology. The technology is the easy part. The leadership, the operating model, the culture, that's where real differentiation happens.”
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic promise; it’s rewriting the rules of M&A today. But here’s the catch: The firms that will dominate aren’t those with the fanciest AI tools, but those that know how to blend human judgment with machine intelligence.
Magali Fiechter-Deloof, founder of Nextwire and a veteran of digital transformation in consulting (Kearney, SparkOptimus, Simon-Kucher), has spent the last decade helping executives navigate this shift. Her message is clear: "AI doesn’t replace humans, but it redefines where we add value."
On Thursday February 26, Magali is one of the panel members at the M&A Trend Forum at BDO. Together with other leading experts, she will discuss the latest trends in M&A, including artificial intelligence.
From due diligence in hours instead of months to reimagining leadership in the age of AI, Fiechter-Deloof shares hard-won lessons on how private equity firms, corporates, and M&A advisors can leverage AI without losing their human edge.
The AI wake-up call: "we started too late"
Fiechter-Deloof’s journey into AI began with a personal revelation. "In late 2022, after ChatGPT launched, generative AI became a lifeline for me", she recalls. Balancing a demanding role at Simon-Kucher with motherhood, she turned to AI to automate emails, LinkedIn posts, proposals, and research, tasks that once consumed hours.
But her real ‘aha’ moment came when she noticed a pattern in her consulting work: "Companies would launch AI pilots with fanfare, but after 6–12 months, nothing stuck. Executives would ask, ‘Where’s my ROI?’ and it wasn’t there." The problem? Leadership wasn’t involved.
"The biggest mistake is treating AI as an IT problem. If executives don’t lead the transformation, it fails. We saw this with digital transformation, and now it’s happening again with AI, just faster and with higher stakes."
"The biggest mistake is treating AI as an IT problem."
This insight led her to found Nextwire, a leadership-first AI transformation firm. "We start with executives, not tools", she emphasizes. "Because if leadership doesn’t own AI, the rest of the organization won’t either."
The leadership gap: why executives struggle with AI adoption
When Magali Fiechter-Deloof speaks with corporate and private equity leaders about AI, she encounters a recurring challenge: many still view AI as a ‘toy’ or passing trend rather than a transformative force. "The biggest hurdle isn’t the technology”, she says. “it’s that leadership teams don’t truly understand AI’s impact on their business."
Too often, executives delegate AI initiatives to IT departments, which may grasp the technical aspects but lack the business context needed to drive meaningful change. The result? "IT delivers solutions nobody asked for, while leadership falls back on outdated narratives, like ‘AI will replace X% of our workforce’, which only demotivates teams", Fiechter-Deloof notes.
The disconnect becomes especially clear in industries like IT consulting, where AI’s role in coding and automation is undeniable. "You can’t tell programmers their jobs are obsolete –even if some tasks change", she says. "People need to migrate to new ways of working, not fear replacement."
Yet many leaders fail to recognize this nuance, leaving employees disillusioned. Fiechter-Deloof recalls a CEO puzzled by why his developers resisted AI tools: "It’s no surprise if you’re telling them they’ll be replaced. The narrative should be ‘We’ll do more with the same team,’ not ‘We’ll do the same with fewer people.’"
"The narrative should be ‘We’ll do more with the same team,’ not ‘We’ll do the same with fewer people.’"
Ultimately, Fiechter-Deloof argues that 90 percent of AI success depends on people, not technology. "The real challenge is leadership understanding: how to shift from fear to opportunity", she emphasizes. “This means investing not just in tools, but in capability-building and cultural change. The budget for human transformation should dwarf the tech budget. Without that, even the best AI tools will fail." For leaders, the message is clear: AI isn’t an IT project: it’s a leadership imperative.
The three layers of AI transformation in M&A
Fiechter-Deloof breaks down AI’s role in M&A into three critical layers, each requiring a different balance of human and machine input.
Layer 1: fully AI-driven (The ‘no-brainer’ tasks)
Tasks like target screening, document classification, and financial modeling should be fully automated. "These are table stakes now", she says. “The sooner M&A teams augment these tasks with AI, the sooner they can focus on higher-value work.”
Example: AI can scrape public registers (e.g., Belgian company databases) to identify potential targets and monitor news for trigger events (e.g., leadership changes, financial distress).
Impact: "What used to take weeks now takes hours. But speed isn’t the real win; it’s the ability to focus on higher-value work."
Layer 2: Human-led, AI-augmented (The ‘sweet spot’)
This is where AI acts as a ‘thinking partner’ – accelerating analysis but leaving final judgment to humans. Think:
● Due diligence interpretation (e.g., AI flags risks in an IM; humans decide which matter).
● Scenario modeling (e.g., AI generates 10 acquisition scenarios; leaders pick the top 3).
● Management interview preparation (e.g., AI suggests tough questions based on gaps in the IM).
"The sweet spot is where AI does the heavy lifting – reading hundreds of pages, spotting anomalies – but humans apply critical thinking. For example, AI might say, ‘This contract has unusual clauses’, but a lawyer must judge if it’s a dealbreaker."
Layer 3: Mostly human (The ‘non-negotiables’)
Some skills cannot, and should not, be fully automated:
● Negotiation (trust, relationship-building, creative deal structuring).
● Post-merger cultural integration (emotional intelligence, conflict resolution): AI can analyze data, but the integration is done by people.
● Gut-feel decisions (sensing market shifts, reading between the lines).
"AI can prepare you for a negotiation, but it can’t replace the handshake. The winners in M&A will be those who use AI to free up time for what truly matters: building relationships and making judgment calls", says Magali.
The death of the analyst? How AI is reshaping M&A roles
Fiechter-Deloof predicts a fundamental shift in hiring for M&A teams. "The traditional pyramid – analysts crunching numbers, associates managing spreadsheets, partners handling relationships – is collapsing", she observes.
What’s out:
● Rote Excel work (AI can build LBO models faster—and with fewer errors).
● Pure execution roles (e.g., associates who only prepare slides).
What’s in:
● Critical thinkers who can challenge AI outputs (e.g., "Does this valuation assumption hold?").
● Data-literate leaders who know when to trust AI and when to override it.
● Relationship builders who excel at negotiation, trust-building, and creative problem-solving.
"The new superpower in M&A isn’t building the best model, but it is knowing which assumptions to challenge”, says Fiechter-Deloof. “AI gives you a team of ‘hyper-smart interns’, but you still need humans to manage them. The question isn't whether you still need analytical skills, but if that's all you're hiring for, you're underinvesting in the capabilities that will differentiate your team: critical thinking, AI judgment, and relationship building.”
“AI gives you a team of ‘hyper-smart interns’, but you still need humans to manage them."
The gut feeling dilemma: can AI replace executive intuition?
One of the most debated questions in M&A is whether AI will erode the role of gut feeling. Fiechter-Deloof’s answer? "No, but it will change how we use it."
"Gut feeling isn’t magic. It’s pattern recognition from experience. AI is also pattern recognition, but it’s backward-looking. Humans can sense shifts the data doesn’t capture yet, like a CEO’s body language in a meeting or a market’s ‘vibe.’ The best leaders will use AI to inform their gut, not replace it. The real question isn't whether AI can match gut feeling. It's whether leaders understand their own unique value: the judgment, empathy, and sensemaking that no machine can replicate. When they do, AI stops being a threat and becomes an amplifier.”
Fiechter-Deloof uses Fireflies.ai to record and analyze her business conversations. "After a call, I’ll ask the AI: ‘What did you read between the lines?’ Sometimes it picks up on nuances I missed, like a client’s hesitation on a key point. But other times, it hallucinates. That’s why human judgment is irreplaceable."
The competitive edge: proprietary data + human judgment
With AI tools becoming commoditized, Fiechter-Deloof argues that true differentiation lies in:
● Proprietary data (e.g., internal deal histories, portfolio company insights).
● Human-AI collaboration (e.g., leaders who know how to challenge AI’s outputs).
"Jensen Huang from Nvidia talks about ‘AI in the loop’, not ‘human in the loop.’ The firms that win will infuse AI with their unique context, like their investment thesis or past deal learnings. If you’re just using off-the-shelf AI, you’re not creating an advantage."
Fiechter-Deloof leaves M&A professionals with three urgent steps:
1. Stop delegating AI to IT – "If leaders don’t use AI themselves, they can’t drive adoption. It's the difference between buying a gym membership and getting fit. Everyone can buy the same AI tools. The transformation, how you change how people work, is what creates the edge.”
2. Redesign your operating model – "Where in your deal process can AI augment workflows? Start with high-volume tasks like sourcing and screening."
3. Embed AI in diligence – "Ask: How AI-ready is this target? What’s left if we strip away the AI hype?"
Conclusion: the future of M&A is human + machine
Fiechter-Deloof’s vision for M&A is not about humans vs. machines, but humans with machines. "The firms that thrive will be those that use AI to eliminate grunt work and free up their people to do what they do best: think critically, build relationships, and make bold decisions."
For Belgian M&A professionals, the message is clear: The AI revolution isn’t coming: it’s here. The question is no longer if you’ll adopt AI, but how you’ll combine it with human expertise to outpace the competition.
Don’t Miss the M&A Trend Forum This Thursday!
>>> AI in M&A: Master human-AI collaboration or risk falling behind
This Thursday, February 26, join us at the M&A Trend Forum at BDO for a game-changing discussion on how AI is reshaping dealmaking—and why the winners won’t be those with the best tools, but those who master human-AI collaboration.
Magali Fiechter-Deloof, founder of Nextwire and AI transformation expert, will share her hard-won insights on:
✅ Why 90% of AI success depends on people, not technology – "The tech is the easy part. Leadership, culture, and operating models? That’s where real differentiation happens."
✅ The 3 layers of AI in M&A – From fully automated tasks (target screening, financial modeling) to the human-led "sweet spot" (due diligence interpretation, negotiation prep) and the non-negotiable human skills (gut feeling, relationship-building).
✅ How AI is reshaping M&A roles – The death of the Excel analyst? Why critical thinkers and relationship builders are the new superstars.
✅ The leadership gap – Why delegating AI to IT is a costly mistake, and how to shift from fear to opportunity.
"AI doesn’t replace humans—it redefines where we add value," says Magali. "The firms that thrive will use AI to eliminate grunt work and free their teams to focus on what truly matters: judgment, relationships, and bold decisions."
Don’t just watch the AI revolution—lead it.
📅 When: Thursday, February 26
📍 Where: BDO, Brussels
🎟️ Register now to secure your spot!
About Magali Fiechter-Deloof
Magali is the founder of Nextwire, a leadership-first AI transformation firm working with PE firms and corporates across the globe. With 15 years in consulting (Kearney, SparkOptimus, Simon-Kucher), she specializes in AI-driven leadership transformation for corporates and private equity firms. Follow her on LinkedIn for insights on AI, leadership, and the future of work.
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