Value Creation in 2026: Closing the Diligence to Execution Gap
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Deal activity has reopened across North America, but liquidity remains selective. Even as respondents describe the market as active, exits continue to be gated by valuation gaps, geopolitical uncertainty, and financing conditions. In this environment, value creation is no longer a supporting workstream. It is the primary determinant of realized performance and exit readiness. This survey captures senior perspectives across deal teams, operating partners, and PE-backed management to understand what is working in value creation today, where execution breaks down, and how AI is, and is not yet, translating into measurable impact. Across the findings, one message is consistent. The next cycle of outperformance will be defined less by identifying levers and more by building the operating model, playbooks, and execution capacity required to deliver them earlier, faster, and at scale. In this report, “Operational Alpha” refers to repeatable outperformance driven by tangible operating improvements across revenue, cost, cash, and execution discipline, rather than market multiple expansion. |
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