A College Intern Taught Me How to Use My Own Product — And It Changed How I Think About AI in M&A
Last week, I was using AI to build out a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) for an investment bank. An analyst — a college intern — was working alongside me as I walked him through the product.
What happened next surprised me.
Repeatedly throughout the exercise, the intern was offering me tips on how to use AI more effectively. I had built the product. He still knew things I didn't.
It was a humbling moment — and an illuminating one. It forced me to confront a question that is increasingly dominating conversations across private equity firms, investment banks, and corporate development teams: What does AI mean for the next generation of M&A professionals?
The Fear: AI Is Eliminating Entry-Level Roles
There is no shortage of discussion about AI in M&A displacing recent college graduates. And in many cases, the concern is warranted. Tasks that once defined the early years of an analyst's career — building CIMs, populating data rooms, drafting market overviews, conducting preliminary due diligence — can now be completed by AI in a fraction of the time.
For firms focused on efficiency, the calculus is straightforward: if CIM automation and AI-powered due diligence can accomplish in minutes what used to take an analyst days, the need for that analyst diminishes. Junior roles built around repetitive, high-volume work are the most vulnerable, and the M&A industry is no exception.
The Hope: A New Generation of AI-Native Talent
But here is what my experience with that intern made clear — displacement is only half the story.
This generation of professionals does not simply use AI. They are native to it. They think in prompts. They instinctively understand how to collaborate with AI tools in ways that those of us who came up in a pre-AI world do not. And that fluency has real, tangible value.
I believe that alongside the roles being displaced, entirely new categories of work are emerging — roles designed specifically for professionals who understand both the substance of M&A and the mechanics of AI. Consider the opportunities taking shape:
- AI-augmented deal execution — Professionals who can leverage AI to accelerate every phase of the deal lifecycle, from sourcing to close.
- AI quality assurance and oversight — In high-stakes transactions, AI output must be verified. This requires judgment, context, and domain expertise that only humans can provide.
- AI implementation and workflow design — Firms need people who can integrate AI tools into existing processes without disrupting deal flow.
- Prompt engineering for financial services — The ability to extract precise, high-quality output from AI is quickly becoming a specialized and valued skill.
These are not hypothetical roles. They are being created today, across firms of all sizes.
The Open Question: What Is the Net Result?
The honest answer is that we do not yet know whether the number of new roles being created will match the number being displaced. Early indications suggest the transition is not one-to-one, and that is a legitimate concern.
However, I am hopeful. The roles that are emerging tend to be more strategic, more intellectually engaging, and more valuable. And the professionals best positioned to fill them are the very people we worry about most — recent graduates who grew up with AI and understand it intuitively.
The firms that recognize this shift and invest in AI-native talent will have a meaningful competitive advantage. Those that do not will find themselves struggling to keep pace.
Building for This Future
This is precisely why we built MergerAI. Our platform enables M&A professionals to create CIMs, conduct due diligence, and streamline deal execution in a fraction of the time — not by replacing the professionals involved, but by amplifying their capabilities.
The intern who taught me new tricks last week was not a threat to the process. He made it better. That is the promise of AI-native talent working with purpose-built AI tools.
If you are ready to experience what AI-powered M&A looks like, try MergerAI today.
Ernest Lopez is the Co-Founder & CEO of MergerAI, an AI-powered platform built for M&A professionals across investment banks, private equity firms, and corporate development teams.
