The PE CEO & CFO Report — November '25: Alignment, Excellence, and the Value Game

Scott Engler

Strategic Executive Search | Building Leadership Teams for the AI Era

December 2, 2025

The High Level

Capital is consolidating and valuations are finally settling around real fundamentals. Continuation vehicles are now a standard tool, and carve-outs keep accelerating as companies strip away distractions. Sponsors are no longer interested in AI “experiments” — they want structured roadmaps tied to real business value.

CEOs and CFOs are winning or losing on their ability to drive alignment, build operating discipline, and keep momentum in a market that rewards precision over ambition. Liquidity windows are uneven, exits are slower, and sponsors are leaning hard on leadership teams that can turn strategy into execution with fewer moves and tighter accountability.

In this cycle, clarity becomes oxygen. Alignment becomes leverage. And operating excellence is the real differentiator.

Here are our curated headlines for November:

Newsletter Content:

1. Organizational Alignment Is the Missing Value-Creation Lever - Sync

2. Serial Building, Sector Bets & AI-Enabled Platform Strategy - Orlando Bravo

3. 6 Lessons Every Company Can Learn from Private Equity - HBR

4. The 2026 CFO Agenda: Cost, Growth & AI - Gartner

5. Secondaries, Continuation Vehicles & GP Stakes - McKinsey

6. AI Risk and the Shift Toward Execution-Ready Operating Models - Alpha Sense

7. 7 Things to do if You're Bought by PE - Bain

8. Middle-Market Dynamics & Small-Deal Discipline - GF Data

9. Leadership, People Risk & Human Due Diligence - Middle Market Growth

10. The Real Story on Valuations in This Cycle - Real Deals

1. Organizational Alignment Is the Critical Value-Creation Lever

CFOs have become the enterprise gyroscope inside PE-backed companies — a leader who can stabilize the system, sharpen priorities, and convert strategy into outcomes. Companies lose massive value each year because leaders operate in silos, priorities drift, and execution gets jammed.

The CFO’s vantage point uniquely spans the numbers, the constraints, the trade-offs, and the investment thesis. That makes them the chief aligner: the one who forces systems thinking, drives sequencing, tests board assumptions, and ensures decision across the org reflects the thesis. The modern role is operator, integrator, culture stabilizer, and strategy translator. And sustaining alignment isn’t an annual event; it’s an operating rhythm.

Key Takeaways

• The CFO is now the enterprise gyroscope — the only leader with a full-system view that aligns strategy, capital, and execution.

• Misalignment is the biggest value killer; enterprise leadership closes the gap between strategy and outcomes.

• Clarity and sequencing are the CFO’s power skills, turning the investment thesis into focused, coordinated execution.

2. Serial Building, Sector Bets & AI-Enabled Platform Strategy - Orlando Bravo

The next cycle favors firms that build platforms, not one-offs. Sector expertise, repeatable playbooks, and AI-enabled operations create compounding advantage. Leaders must think in systems, not projects. Platform-oriented companies scale faster, integrate bolt-ons more effectively, and convert capability into competitive moat. AI multiplies these advantages when deployed intentionally.

Key Takeaways

• Platform thinking outperforms project thinking.

• Sector specialization accelerates value creation.

• AI strengthens repeatable processes and integration.

• Systems create momentum — tasks do not.

• Strategy scales when the operating model scales.

3. 6 Lessons Every Company Can Learn from Private Equity - HBR

Private equity’s advantage doesn’t come from financial engineering — it comes from operational discipline. The most effective PE-style operating models focus on ruthless clarity, simple priorities, and tight execution loops. Companies that adopt this discipline reduce drift, eliminate noise, and create an environment where teams move confidently because the path is unambiguous. 

• Conduct full-potential due diligence continually. Run ongoing, PE-style assessments to understand the true performance ceiling. This prevents incrementalism and keeps ambition anchored to full value creation.

• Build a fit-for-purpose management team. PE firms upgrade talent early to match the demands of the value-creation plan. The right leaders create leverage; the wrong ones stall transformation.

• Apply clean-sheet labor and organization design. Start from zero—not legacy org charts. Rebuild structure, workflows, and spans of control around what the strategy actually requires.

• Eliminate bad revenue and unprofitable complexity. Not all revenue is good. Remove products, services, and customers that drain margin or dilute strategic focus.

• Execute with discipline, cadence, and accountability. PE-backed companies run on tight operating rhythms, weekly dashboards, and owner-style accountability. Execution becomes a system, not a hope.

• Treat leadership time as a critical form of capital. Senior attention is finite. Concentrate it on the few initiatives that move enterprise value, not on noise.

4. The 2026 CFO Agenda: Cost, Growth & AI - Gartner

CFOs are now managing a triple mandate: protect margins, fuel growth, and build real AI productivity — all under heightened scrutiny from boards and sponsors. This requires sharper cost structure decisions, clearer narrative alignment, and more rigorous forecasting and scenario planning. The expectations are expanding, not shifting.

The CFO role has evolved into a strategic operator: framing the trade-offs, defining the financial logic behind the plan, and ensuring the organization moves with speed. AI introduces opportunity but also complexity — the CFO must determine where AI creates measurable value and how to integrate it without disrupting core operations.

Key Takeaways

• CFOs must anchor the business around a one-page financial strategy.

• AI investments require measurable business outcomes, not optimism.

• Scenario planning is now a leadership skill, not a finance exercise.

• Boards judge CFOs on decision velocity, not just forecast accuracy.

• The CFO is now co-owner of growth, not just guardian of cost.

5. Secondaries, Continuation Vehicles & GP Stakes - McKinsey

Liquidity constraints have pushed alternative liquidity mechanisms into the mainstream. Continuation vehicles, GP stakes, and secondaries are no longer edge tools — they’re becoming foundational in how firms manage hold periods and recycle capital. This shift changes how leadership teams think about time horizons and value creation. Longer holds mean leadership teams must build sustainable momentum rather than rely on timing the exit window. Operating precision, consistent performance, and disciplined value execution matter more than ever. Liquidity engineering rewards predictable businesses.

Key Takeaways

• Expect longer holds and more mid-cycle liquidity events.

• High-conviction assets require sustained operational excellence.

• Value creation becomes more about discipline than timing.

• Predictability is king — volatility kills liquidity optionality.

• Leaders must prepare for multi-stage ownership, not one-and-done exits

6. AI Risk and Execution-Ready Operating Models

AI is creating both opportunity and exposure. Leadership teams that fail to integrate AI pragmatically risk falling behind operationally and competitively. The winners are building AI into workflows where it reduces friction, accelerates decisions, and expands capacity — without disrupting core execution. AI is no longer about experimentation. It is about targeted deployment: forecasting, productivity, analytics, customer interaction, and workflow automation. Leaders must make decisions on where AI matters and where it doesn’t.

Key Takeaways

• AI is a strategic operating tool, not a tech initiative.

• Value comes from targeted use cases, not broad ambition.

• Leaders must ensure AI enhances — not confuses — execution.

• AI sharpens decision velocity and reduces operating drag.

• Companies ignoring AI adoption will fall behind faster than expected.

7. 7 Things To Do If You're Bought by PE - Bain

• Align on the investment thesis ASAP. The first task after a deal closes: work with investors to build a detailed value-creation plan (VCP) — identify 3–5 levers that will drive a 3× return or double enterprise value, and lock those into the board agenda. 

• Be transparent — don’t let surprises fester. New sponsors expect frequent, honest communication. Proactive disclosure of both good and bad news, with proposed solutions, builds trust faster than reactive fixes. 

• Operate with financial discipline and speed. PE ownership brings a hands-on, data-driven board. Define clear short- and long-term priorities, assign responsibilities, and build a KPI dashboard early. A single liaison (often the CFO) should coordinate sponsor communications to avoid information overload. 

• Upgrade the management bench early. PE firms value an “A-team” far more than loyalty. Where leadership gaps or underperformance exist — even with sentimental attachment — tough changes may be needed immediately to signal seriousness and execution capability. 

• Staff up for new reporting intensity. Sponsors will demand regular financial and operational updates. That often entails expanding the finance/FP&A team, streamlining reporting via templates and automation, and ensuring the company can fish real-time performance data rather than scrambling. 

• Tap the sponsor’s ecosystem. Your new backer likely brings operations partners, advisers, and access to a peer-company network — use them. Their “been there, done that” experience can accelerate your transition from seller’s business to PE-grade operating company. 

• Understand the sponsor’s style and decision rhythm. Not all PE firms operate the same — some are deeply involved, others hands-off. It’s essential to talk with other portfolio companies, ask how decisions get made, and adapt to the sponsor’s cadence and norms.

8. Middle-Market Dynamics & Small-Deal Discipline

In the middle market, discipline outperforms leverage. Smaller deals amplify leadership quality, sequencing, operational control, and execution consistency. The margin for error shrinks — and the impact of alignment, clarity, and cash management increases. The best middle-market operators keep the business simple, productive, and sequenced. They avoid the trap of adding complexity faster than capability scales.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership quality is a larger multiplier in smaller deals.

• Operational discipline outperforms aggressive expansion.

• Cash discipline is a competitive advantage in the middle market.

• Sequencing matters — do fewer things better.

• Bolt-ons succeed only when integration is a strength.

9. Leadership, People Risk & Human Due Diligence

Execution risk is overwhelmingly people risk. Leadership teams that aren’t aligned, self-aware, or capable of driving change create invisible value leakage long before financial metrics reflect the problem. Human due diligence is now a strategic must-have.

The strongest firms look at leadership capability, decision patterns, cultural blockers, and team dynamics early. Misalignment is predictable — and avoidable.

Key Takeaways

• People risk is the leading cause of value-creation failure.

• Leadership assessment must happen early, not mid-cycle.

• Teams that lack alignment burn time and capital.

• Culture is a strategic factor, not an HR topic.

• Upgrading leaders late costs twice as much and works half as well.

10. The Real Story on Valuations in This Cycle

Valuations are uneven, but not irrational. In this environment, the difference between “overpriced” and “smart” comes down to predictability and operational discipline. Buyers are rewarding reliability and punishing uncertainty. Leaders who build strong fundamentals — cash generation, margin structure, predictable growth — outperform even when multiples compress. The internal model matters more than the external environment

Key Takeaways

• Focus on cash and margin quality over multiple hopes.

• Predictability drives value more than narrative does.

• Stress-tested plans outperform optimistic ones.

• Valuations reflect discipline — or lack of it.

• Exit outcomes depend on the operating model.

Appendix: Bibliography & Source Links

1. Organizational Alignment — Sync Executive Partners https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7396631174917312512/

2. Serial Building & PE Operating Models https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/orlando-bravo-talks-private-equity-taking-right-risks

3. What Every Company Can Learn from Private Equity https://hbr.org/2025/11/what-every-company-can-learn-from-private-equity

4. The 2026 CFO Agenda https://www.gartner.com/en/finance/insights/cfo-agenda-2026

5. Liquidity & Fundraising Trends https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/private-capital/our-insights/global-private-markets-report

6. AI & Operating Models https://www.alpha-sense.com/blog/trends/private-equity-trends/

7. A PE Fund Just Bought Your Company … Now What? https://www.bain.com/insights/a-pe-fund-just-bought-your-company-now-what/

8. Middle-Market / GF Data https://middlemarketgrowth.org/

9. Human Due Diligence & Leadership Risk https://realdeals.eu.com/article/...

10. Valuations & Market Data https://www.linkedin.com/posts/a16z_valuations-not-so-crazy-after-all-public-activity-7392643323720589312