CapLink Group

The operating partner has gone from a niche capability to a standard feature of private equity, but the role itself is changing faster than most people have adapted to it. Fredrik Bürger of EY traces how the function has evolved over two decades: from later-stage involvement to early diligence integration, from financial engineering to genuine operational transformation, and from internal resource to a source of healthy tension with portfolio company leadership that requires real emotional intelligence to manage well.

Recorded at the European Private Capital Summit in London, this conversation covers the value creation levers that actually drive PE outperformance including pricing, procurement, growth, and technology, and why a company's proprietary dataset is often more valuable than whatever AI sits on top of it.

After fifteen years without a true credit cycle, an uptick in defaults across private and public credit markets is neither surprising nor a signal of structural failure. It is the market functioning as it should. Natalia Tsitoura of Apollo makes a measured and confident case for why the fundamental supply and demand dynamics that created private credit remain intact, and why the firms that will define the next decade are the ones willing to innovate on structure rather than rely on what worked in the last one.

In conversation with Diala Minott of Paul Hastings, the discussion covers the capital needs still unmet across European infrastructure and energy transition, the investor education gap around semi-liquid evergreen structures, and why Apollo's view is that investment remains a judgment business where culture and experience, not data patterns alone, will determine who wins.

The best in-house tax teams in private capital are not waiting to be consulted. They are in the room before a deal is structured, translating complex legislation into decisions investment teams can actually act on. Ed Hammond of Coller Capital makes the case that the shift from compliance function to trusted business advisor is not just cultural. It requires tax professionals to understand the commercial logic of a transaction well enough to know when some tax leakage is simply the cost of doing good business.

In conversation with Laura Underhill of Clifford Chance, the discussion covers the growing complexity of fund structures, why data management has become the top operational priority for tax teams in secondary funds, and how post-pandemic professional mobility is creating unexpected carried interest and permanent establishment risks that need active monitoring.

The sustainability conversation in private markets has shifted. The external pressure that once defined the agenda has given way to something more fundamental: integrating ESG directly into how capital is deployed and how portfolio companies are built. Elsa Palanza, Global Head of Sustainability at ICG, makes the case that the most effective sustainability teams are not running parallel processes. They are embedded alongside deal teams from the start.

In conversation with Matt Feehily of Simpson Thacher, the discussion covers the multidisciplinary skill sets sustainability leadership now demands, the governance and environmental challenges posed by AI at scale, and why the defense sector is emerging as one of the more complex sustainability questions in the European context.

Portfolio operations has grown from a function that fixed struggling companies into a core driver of returns across the entire investment lifecycle. Selim Loukil of Advent traces how that shift has played out in practice. Earlier involvement during diligence, longer engagement periods that now stretch to 36 months or more, and an explicit focus on building internal capabilities so the operating partner ultimately makes themselves redundant.

In conversation with Paul Reading of Accordion, the discussion covers the growing role of Chief Transformation Officers inside portfolio companies, why emotional intelligence has become as important as technical expertise in driving management performance, and how the best firms are thinking about AI. Not as a blanket efficiency play, but as a signal of organisational maturity to future buyers.

The tools exist. The investment theses are written. The harder problem — the one that actually determines whether AI transformation delivers — is human. James Redmayne of Searchlight Capital makes a clear-eyed case for why change management, not technology, is the defining challenge of AI adoption in private equity and portfolio operations.

In conversation with Rakhi Williams of FTI Consulting, the discussion covers how firms are building proprietary AI workflows internally, why senior advocacy from founders and leaders is non-negotiable, and the growing role of transformation officers as a permanent fixture in value creation.

Value creation plans only work if the right people are executing them. Christian Trumpler of Partners Group makes the case that talent selection failures in private equity almost always trace back to the same root cause: a lack of clarity on what a role actually needs to deliver — before the assessment process even begins.

In conversation with Hein Knaapen of CEO.works, the discussion covers psychometric tools, the critical intelligence of the offer stage, how to structure genuinely prioritised strategic initiatives, and why frontline managers remain the most underleveraged lever in portfolio performance.

Everyone in private equity is running AI pilots. Far fewer are seeing it show up on the P&L. Valerie Legat of Astorg brings a portfolio operator's perspective on why the gap between use case and real impact remains stubbornly wide — and what it actually takes to move from isolated experiments to repeatable, productised solutions across a portfolio.

In conversation with Dean Hill of ECI, the discussion covers the two distinct AI implementation tracks for portfolio companies, the role of communities of practice in scaling knowledge, and why the next 12 to 18 months will be defined by whether executive teams can become genuinely fluent in AI — not just familiar with it.

The AI conversation in private equity has moved on. It's no longer about what's possible — it's about what's working, what's worth building, and what actually moves the needle on returns. Jesse Thomas of Advent brings a practitioner's perspective on how data science teams are being deployed inside PE firms and across portfolio companies, from deal acceleration to churn modelling to workflow-embedded automation.

In conversation with Joel Burnette of BlueFlame AI, the discussion cuts through the noise on build-vs-buy decisions, the enduring importance of clean data, and where human judgement remains irreplaceable as automation rises.

European private equity doesn't move on macro headlines — it moves on value creation at the company level. David Atterbury of HarbourVest breaks down the three forces reshaping the European mid-market: sector specialisation, digitisation, and the professionalisation of founder-led businesses. He also makes the case for why small-cap and mid-market fundraising is at record levels, even as broader sentiment remains cautious.

The conversation — hosted by Karen Guch of Baker McKenzie — covers the maturation of the secondary market as a genuine fourth exit route, the rise of continuation vehicles, and why healthcare infrastructure and B2B recurring revenue businesses are where serious capital is moving.