It is a question we are increasingly asked by owner-managers. If AI tools such as ChatGPT can draft documents, summarise accounts and answer questions about selling a business in seconds, do you still need an advisor? AI has a genuine place in the M&A process, and we use it ourselves, but relying on it to sell your business carries real risks for confidentiality, for value and for your chance of reaching completion.
What AI does well
Used in the right way, AI tools are excellent at helping owner-managers get up to speed. They can explain M&A terminology, summarise the stages of a sale, help structure your thinking and draft first versions of documents. For advisors, AI can speed up research, analysis and drafting, freeing up more time for the work that needs judgement and experience.
The problems start when AI moves from helping you learn to being relied on as your advisor.
Confidentiality, the first and biggest risk
Confidentiality runs through every M&A transaction. Word that a business is for sale can unsettle employees, customers, suppliers and competitors, and can damage value before a deal is even agreed. That is why advisors approach buyers on a no-names basis, require a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before sharing any detail, and carefully control what information is released, to whom and when, typically through a secure virtual data room.
Public AI tools are not designed for that level of control. Once information is typed into a consumer chatbot, you no longer control where it is stored, who can access it or how it may be used. Depending on the service and your settings, conversations may be retained and used to train future models, and some GPT model providers themselves advise users not to share sensitive information in conversations.
This is not a theoretical risk. Widely reported examples include
- Samsung, 2023. Engineers reportedly pasted confidential source code and internal meeting notes into ChatGPT, and Samsung is reported to have gone on to restrict the use of generative AI tools across the business.
- ChatGPT, March 2023. A software bug allegedly allowed some users to briefly see the titles of other users’ conversations, with reports suggesting that some subscribers’ personal and payment details may also have been visible to others.
- Shared chats, 2025. Thousands of conversations that users had shared by link were reported to have appeared in Google search results, some allegedly containing personal and sensitive details, before the feature was withdrawn.
Now imagine the equivalent in a business sale, with your financial performance, the price you hope to achieve, the names of interested buyers or concerns about key customers sitting in a system you do not control. Where confidentiality can make or break a deal, that is a risk not worth taking.
Where we use AI in our own work, we use Anthropic’s Claude through secure, business-grade access, under terms that do not allow our data to be used to train AI models, and we control what information it can access. Confidential client information is never put into public AI tools.
AI is built to agree with you
AI chatbots are designed to be helpful, and that often means agreeable. In April 2025 one of the leading GPT model providers reportedly rolled back an update after acknowledging it had become overly flattering, and the tendency of AI models to tell people what they want to hear, known as sycophancy, remains a recognised issue across the industry.
When you are selling your business, a tool that agrees with your view of value is the last thing you need. AI models can also state incorrect information with complete confidence. In June 2025 the High Court in England warned lawyers after fictitious, AI-generated case citations were put before the court, noting that tools such as ChatGPT are not capable of conducting reliable legal research.
An experienced advisor will challenge the information you provide, test the assumptions behind your forecasts and give you an honest view of the value that could be achieved for your business in the market, even when it is not what you want to hear. That honesty early on is often what keeps a deal on track later.
Value is won or lost in the detail
The enterprise value is only part of the story. Much of the value in a transaction is decided in the detail, where knowing what is market norm, and what a particular buyer will accept, makes a real difference. AI can describe these terms, but it cannot negotiate them or know what is achievable in your deal.
- Cash-free, debt-free. Most deals are priced on this basis, and agreeing what counts as cash, cash-like items, indebtedness and debt-like items can significantly change the amount you actually receive.
- Working capital. Setting the normal level of working capital the business should be left with is one of the most negotiated areas of any deal.
- Completion mechanism. Whether a locked box or completion accounts suits you depends on your business, its cash flows and the buyer, and each carries different risks.
- Earn-outs and deferred consideration. These are common and can be an effective way to bridge a gap on value and share in the future growth of the business. The key is in how they are structured, and we make sure targets are clear, measurable and achievable, so owner-managers can approach them with confidence.
- Service contracts and handover. Your role, notice period and handover after completion affect both your future and how a buyer values the business.
- Synergies. Understanding what a particular acquirer gains from your business, and positioning for it through Exit Readiness, is how value is maximised.
Deal craft, relationships and getting to completion
Selling a business is as much about people as numbers. Deal craft, the planning, preparation and execution that come from experience, is what turns interest into a completed transaction. An experienced advisor brings
- relationships with trade buyers, Private Equity investors and funders, and an understanding of what each is looking for
- a competitive process that creates tension between buyers and protects your position
- judgement on when to push, when to concede and when to walk away
- the ability to keep a deal moving through due diligence, when most transactions are at their greatest risk
- a single point of coordination for the rest of your advisory team
Relying on AI alone removes all of this, and with it a significant part of your chance of reaching completion on the right terms.
The right team, with AI as a tool
As we explain in How do I sell my business?, the best outcomes come from a joined-up team around you, each covering a different aspect of the transaction.
The perfect team of advisors
Four specialists around you, covering every aspect of the transaction. The M&A advisor is your first call, leading the process from start to finish and coordinating the team.
AI can help each of these advisors work quicker and more efficiently. It cannot replace their knowledge, their experience or their relationships, or the responsibility they take for their advice.
AI is a fantastic tool and we use it every day to work more efficiently, but it cannot keep a deal confidential, tell you what a buyer will really accept or pick up the phone to the right acquirer. The knowledge, experience and relationships an advisor brings are what give owner-managers the best chance of completing a deal on the right terms.
Sources include reporting on the Samsung incident, a GPT model provider’s statement on sycophancy, coverage of shared chats appearing in search results and the High Court’s judgment in Ayinde v London Borough of Haringey.
