What will investors ask about AI before a raise?

Expect questions on three things: where AI is used across the company, not only in product and engineering; how it is governed; and whether anyone measures the return.

A May 2026 Real Deals commentary on private equity diligence lists questions such as "How is anyone measuring the return?" It also asks about finance, operations, customer service and compliance.

Have the answers on paper, with numbers by function, before the round.

See a ReportCommission a Report
Issuer kn0w
Report 000142
Issued 2026-05-23
Version v2.1
Board pack · page 1

The answers.

  1. Is what the board is being told about AI what is actually happening?

    On governance, no.

    CEO gap −18 · Oversight over-read

  2. Is AI spend producing a return, or merely being spent?

    What is spent is tracked.

    Spend 42 · Early-stage · Outcomes 63 · Systematic

Sample Report 000142

KN0W PTE. LTD.

What are investors asking?

The Real Deals commentary follows one thread: how AI is used today, how it is governed and secured, and whether the returns are measured. In our grouping, its questions cover:

  1. How product and engineering teams use AI in their own work.

  2. How the non-technical functions use it.

  3. How governance, security and links to existing systems have kept up.

  4. Whether anyone measures the return.

What should you have ready?

Investor questionWhat to showWhere it sits in the Automation Report
Where is it used, beyond product?Share of workflows with an AI or automation component, by functionWorkflows reading
What tools run, and who owns them?How widely and how deeply AI and automation tools are adoptedTools reading
How is it governed?Policies, review and risk controls over AI useOversight reading
Can the team use it well?Whether staff can use, evaluate and govern the toolsSkills reading
What does it cost?Annual investment in AI and automation, by functionSpend reading
Is it paying off?Whether outcomes are measured and reported, and recoverable annual productivity, a structural estimateOutcomes reading and Board Summary
How do you compare?Percentile against the same sector, country and size, never read from fewer than five companiesPeer placement

Where does the Automation Report fit in a raise?

The report is issued for the company's board. The lead institutional investor in the company's next priced round may also rely on it, where that investor meets the minimum investment stated in the report.

The report is fixed at issue, so the version an investor reads is the version the board read. It does not replace an investor's own diligence.

Frequently asked questions

Do investors ask about AI in due diligence?

Yes. Real Deals reported in May 2026 that buy-side teams are pulling AI assessments earlier into transactions, and that investors ask how AI is used, governed and measured. The commentary covers private equity, not venture rounds.

What is AI due diligence?

The part of an investor's diligence that looks at how a company uses AI: where it runs, what it costs, how it is governed and whether it returns anything.

Can an investor rely on the Automation Report?

The lead institutional investor in the company's next priced round may rely on it, where that investor meets the minimum investment stated in the report. The company's board is entitled to rely on it.

Is the Automation Report a due diligence report?

No. It is issued for the company's board, about the company's own AI and automation. An investor runs its own diligence.

When should a company get the report before a raise?

Before the round, so the report is issued and fixed when investors ask.

Published by kn0w, 4 October 2026.

Sources:

Real Deals, How AI is changing the questions investors ask in due diligence, 27 May 2026.