Free practitioner guide ยท 31 pages ยท 2026
The AI Exit Premium
What AI adoption does to the multiple. Buyers adjust EBITDA, and they will adjust AI. Build for the turn, not the unit.
โ The Stickiness Test: five criteria a buyer applies to your AI claims
โ Three matrices and the AI adjustment schedule
โ How a buyer's diligence reads AI, from quality of earnings to the multiple
โ Corbin's three exit narratives and a thirty-three month seller plan
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One turn of multiple
is worth 4.3 units of EBITDA on the Corbin case, because a turn is worth 40.8 of enterprise value and a unit only 9.5. The guide is about the turn.
What is inside
Every chapter ends with a Monday morning box. The templates are in Appendix A, ready to use.
The arithmetic
The turn, not the unit
Why a point of multiple dwarfs a point of margin at exit, and what that does to how AI savings should be pitched.
The game
Everyone is adopting
Rivals, buyers, suppliers, entrants and substitutes are all adopting AI. A buyer prices your claim net of their response.
The test
The Stickiness Test
Five criteria that separate a tourist from a compounder: proprietary data, learning loops, audited levers and changed risk.
The tools
Matrices and the schedule
Three matrices and the AI adjustment schedule, so you can see how a buyer would adjust the earnings you present.
The buyer
The buyer's diligence
From quality of earnings to the multiple: the questions a buyer asks about AI, and the evidence that answers them.
Worked in full
Corbin and the seller's plan
Three exit narratives on one case company, and the thirty-three months a seller needs to earn the premium.
The argument
Buyers adjust EBITDA. They will adjust AI.
A cost saving a buyer can replicate inside its own hold earns no premium, whatever the vendor's deck says. The premium goes to the company whose AI advantage is sticky: proprietary data, learning loops, audited levers. This guide shows how to build that case before the sale process starts.
Who it is for
Operating partners and deal teams preparing a company for sale.
CEOs and CFOs who want the AI story to survive diligence.
Buyers and advisers who need a standard for pricing AI claims.
Also free
Start with The AI Value Creation Model, then read Exit Ready, the OpCo CEO's Playbook for the company side of the same sale.
Build for the turn before the buyer arrives
Free. Name and email. The guide opens straight away.
About VCI Institute
VCI Institute is a nonprofit dedicated to building practical capability and shared standards for value creation in private equity. Its certification ecosystem, including the Certified Operating Partner in Private Equity (COPPE) and the Certified Value Creation Analyst (CVCA) tracks, serves operating partners, value creation professionals, and portfolio company leaders.