Technology that moves the multiple.
Helping PE-backed and founder-led software companies reduce technology risk and improve execution velocity, with AI turned into real operating leverage.
The Lifecycle
Three phases. One operating partner.
Assess - Technology Due Diligence
At acquisition and throughout the hold
- Technology due diligence (PRISM™)
- Cybersecurity pre-close assessment
- AI & data readiness assessment
- 100-day technology roadmap
Risk contained. No surprises. Deal thesis protected.
Improve & Lead - Hold Period Value Creation
Months 3 to 36
- Operating platform & ERP modernization
- AI value creation & deployment
- Cloud & infrastructure optimization
- Fractional CTO / CISO / CAIO / CDO leadership
EBITDA moves. Portfolio visibility improves. Multiple expands.
Exit - Sell-Side Technology Diligence
12–18 months pre-exit
- Sell-side technology diligence
- Technology equity story & AI narrative
- Buyer readiness & data room prep
- Management team Q&A coaching
Exit on your terms. Multiple defended. Clean close.
Engagements
Four tracks across the lifecycle.
Assess - Technology Due Diligence
A structured, financially-translated technology assessment of a potential acquisition target. Five dimensions evaluated, each mapped to dollar impact, remediation timeline, and thesis risk.
Improve - Hold Period Value Creation
Technology modernization, AI deployment, and infrastructure optimization across the hold period: tied to EBITDA, not project milestones.
Lead - Embedded Operating Leadership
Fractional CTO, CISO, CAIO, or CDO: embedded technology leadership accountable for EBITDA outcomes, not deliverables. Without the 12-month executive search.
Exit - Sell-Side Technology Diligence
Running the buyer's technology diligence playbook against your own asset, before the buyer does. Find the gaps. Fix them. Pre-assemble the data room. Defend the multiple.
Who We Serve
Built for three buyers.
PE Deal Partners
Before the LOI, know what you’re buying. PRISM™ technology due diligence translates engineering risk into deal terms (Gate, Price, Thesis, or Lever) before you sign.
PE Operating Partners
Across the hold, a technology operating partner who treats the portfolio’s tech stack as a value creation lever, not a cost center to monitor from a distance.
Portco Management Teams
Embedded technology leadership when you need it (fractional CTO, CISO, CAIO, or CDO) without the 12-month executive search.
Frameworks
Named frameworks, versioned.
AI Governance Program
v1.1The engagement that runs between the diagnostic and the target architecture: five phases that take a portfolio company from unlisted AI systems to a board-ready, regulator-ready governance posture.
AI Operating System
v0.9One GP-level engagement that every current and future portfolio company inherits. Governance, readiness, and a repeatable deployment playbook: portfolio AI as operating capacity, not per-portco pilots.
AI Value Creation Framework
v1.0Turning AI from a cost and distraction into a measurable margin driver. Use case prioritization, governance, and a board-ready AI narrative: all tied to EBITDA, not pilots.
CLEAR™ — Hold Period Operating Framework
v2.0Five phases ending at exit, matching fund economics. PRISM™ diagnoses the asset; CLEAR™ operates it.
Enterprise AI Control Plane
v1.3A unified governance architecture (5 pillars × 4 lifecycle stages = 20 control domains) that treats AI systems as enterprise operational infrastructure requiring identity, access, observability, and resilience controls.
PRISM™ — Technology Due Diligence Framework
v1.2Five dimensions scored 0–100. Every finding priced as CapEx requirement, EBITDA drag, or exit multiple implication. A financial instrument, not a checklist.
Representative Outcomes
What we have already done.
PE-backed analytics platform, large-cap PE firm hold period.
Platform Growth
120x revenue growth
Services-to-SaaS transformation
Engineering Leadership
120-person org
Full technology org scope
Cybersecurity
Org-wide SOC 2 Type II
All 6 business functions
Cloud & Infrastructure
60% cost reduction
At petabyte scale
Operational Efficiency
3 months → 8 hours
Onboarding compression
AI & Engineering
30% productivity gain
Engineering modernization
M&A Execution
Multiple transactions
25% post-integration improvement
Patents
2 US patents
Named inventor, AI/ML
How We Deliver
One lead. A vetted bench.
Anchor Operating Partner
Sujit Maharana
Operating Partner, Technology Value Creation
Tech Due Diligence · Fractional CTO/CISO · AI & Data Transformation
Operating Partner at Crescent Capital Advisors, leading technology value creation across the PE investment lifecycle. Previously led a full technology organization (engineering, security, IT, and operations) through a complete PE hold period and exit, including multiple transactions and an org-wide SOC 2 Type II certification. CISO and VP Product Engineering at Veekrypt.
The Specialist Bench
Behind the lead sits a vetted bench of senior specialists (security and compliance, OT/ICS, data and analytics, manufacturing operations, AI/ML engineering, M&A integration) engaged per scope, under CCA leadership.
They are operators currently in seat at operating companies, not career consultants between engagements. That is why there is no headshot grid here, and why the read you get reflects how these systems are run today.
One Accountable Lead
Every engagement is led personally by Sujit: one person who owns the read, the plan, and the outcome. Specialists extend the work. They never dilute the accountability.
Tools
Featured tools.
Start with the Enterprise Debt Index, then price and score what it surfaces: a few minutes each, built from our engagement frameworks.
Live · self-serve
Enterprise Debt Index
Which pre-existing debt (data, technology, process, or talent) is your binding constraint on AI.
Run the diagnosticLive · self-serve
AI Governance Quick Scan
A five-minute read on where AI governance holds and where it does not, across five pillars.
Run the diagnosticLive · self-serve
PRISM Scorecard
Where technology protects or erodes enterprise value, scored the way a diligence room will.
Run the diagnosticRecent Thinking
From the operators doing the work.
July 25, 2026
Why Do CEOs See AI Value but Can't Scale It?
Nearly nine in ten CEOs now see AI value, but only in targeted pockets. New BCG data points to the organization underneath the AI as the real blocker on scale.
July 22, 2026
How Much Does an AI Audit Cost?
The honest answer is that AI audit covers three different things at three very different price points, and the cost is set almost entirely by scope: how many AI systems you run, how ready your evidence is, and which standard you're measured against. Before you price an audit, the cheaper move is to find out whether you need one.
July 19, 2026
AI Governance Assessment vs. AI Audit: What a PE-Backed Company Actually Needs
Three different things get called an AI audit. A self-assessment tells you where you stand, a third-party audit gives an outsider's attestation, and a regulator-required conformity assessment is a legal obligation. A PE-backed company usually needs them in that order, and rarely needs the last one as early as it fears.
Newsletter
The Portco Brief
A short brief for PE operating and deal teams: how technology is moving the multiple, read in five minutes. New issue most weeks, no filler.
Let’s find what’s moving your multiple.
Whether you’re pre-close on a target or three years into a hold, the first conversation is the same: where technology is protecting the thesis, and where it’s capping the multiple.