Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) announced Managing Director Anil Kumar will head its Private Equity Performance Improvement (PEPI) Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) practice. David McGraw and Chaz Henry will support Mr. Kumar as the GenAI practice’s consulting lead and Chief Technology Officer, respectively. Formalizing A&M’s GenAI practice and aligning it with the firm’s onshore and offshore development groups, provides the structure to maximize GenAI advantages for private equity (PE) and their portfolio companies.
Jeffrey Klein, a Managing Director and, who is responsible for PEPI’s Software, Technology & Services (STS) group, commented, “Anil, alongside our clients, has co-developed a series of pre-acquisition and post-acquisition value creation, GenAI- based applications that are resonating with PE. A&M’s operational diligence bench strength, combined with its technology and analytics expertise, uniquely positions the firm to help PE clients capitalize on GenAI benefits. Working in concert with our global colleagues and our clients, Anil, David and Chaz have the skills to accelerate diligence and performance improvement effectiveness for private equity acquirers via our internally developed GenAI platforms.”
Mr. Kumar brings more than 20 years of experience spanning technology development, private equity consulting experience, and AI analytics, to his GenAI practice leader role. He has led over 200 diligence and transformation projects for tech-enabled companies and managed the implementation of several performance improvement initiatives. Additionally, and most recently, Mr. Kumar has driven development of a three stage GenAI tool kit for PE acquirers, initiating proof of concept with leading PE funds.
Mr. McGraw specializes in the application of generative artificial intelligence and AI to improve performance and create value across business functions. Prior to joining A&M, he served at West Monroe Partners where he co-led the Generative AI Center of Excellence. Additionally, Mr. McGraw co-founded Predikto, acquired by Raytheon Technologies, an AI platform built to solve predictive maintenance use cases. He has also served in technology leadership positions at Oracle and Hitachi Consulting.
Mr. Henry leads architecture and coding standards for applications that help merger and acquisition (M&A) analysts gather data, identify issues, and recommend remediations. Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Henry served as a KPMG Technology Strategist, where he implemented the use of ChatGPT in diligence settings. Previously, he served as a Principal Solution Architect for SAS, working with the Global Enablement team. In 2010, Mr. Henry founded PowerChalk, a cloud-based video analysis system used by sports teams and corporations to analyze, record, slow motion, voice-over and markup analysis that compares users against professional athletes. The company was sold to iON Camera in 2018.
Mr. Kumar, said, “A&M’s GenAI practice represents our hand-in-glove approach for providing consulting services alongside product platforms that best address clients’ needs. With David’s and Chaz’s insights and support, we can expand A&M’s powerful operational legacy with GenAI’s transformative technology. The team is in place and the time is now.”