Spotlight on Portfolio Operations: Cameron Hulett
As part of BC Partners’ latest series focused on operational excellence, we’re sitting down with members of our Portfolio Operations team to find out more about their expertise, emerging themes in their practice areas and how they work across BC Partners’ portfolio to deliver hands-on support and value creation.
In this Q&A, we speak with Cameron Hulett, Managing Director, Head of AI & Digital, who recently joined the team, to discuss his new role at BC Partners, how we as a firm approach AI and technology, and the future for this rapidly evolving space.
Cameron, thanks for sitting down with us. You recently joined BC Partners as Managing Director and Head of AI & Digital in the Portfolio Operations team. Could you tell us a bit about your new role here and your experience before joining the firm?
Cameron Hulett: Absolutely. I joined BC Partners in the summer of 2024, focusing on digital transformation and artificial intelligence. Before this, I worked at Triton Partners, a mid-market Europe-focused GP. My background was originally in mechanical engineering, but I quickly moved into the tech and software space, completing a master’s in technology, followed by an MBA, which really sparked my interest in the commercial side - using digital technologies to build and scale businesses. Throughout my career, I’ve worked across various regions—the U.S., APAC, Europe, and the Middle East—and served on many Boards along the way, in sectors spanning pharmaceuticals, supply chains and business services. Over time, these experiences led to conversations with GPs about formalising my role, as my background in business, along with hands-on experience in delivering value creation through technology, aligned well with the goals of these funds as they began to adopt digital tools in a more focused way.
At BC Partners, my role zeroes in on digital transformation and, more specifically, how AI can support private equity and create value across our portfolio. I’ve been working in AI for about seven years now, so I’ve developed certain methodologies for growing businesses through digital tools, and I’m excited to apply those here.
How do you envision approaching AI at BC Partners?
Cameron Hulett: Having recently joined the firm, my initial work has been about enhancing and formalising our AI strategy and approach, structuring our AI initiatives under four main pillars. This gives us a roadmap to drive value and efficiency for the companies we support, as well as delivering for the fund as a whole.
The first pillar is all about building a strong base of knowledge, toolkits, and a partner ecosystem to support company strategies across the entire fund. This foundation ensures that any AI work we do is strategic and adds real value, as well as being something that all our companies can leverage.
Our second pillar focuses on specific threats and opportunities. To do this, we ‘ve conducted a full disruption assessment of our sub-sectors and portfolio companies, where we examine our portfolio to identify which companies operate in areas likely to see rapid AI disruption, or, on the other side of the coin, where AI could unlock immediate value. Then, we apply targeted strategies to address risks and seize opportunities, following a broader, strategic approach to digital-enabled transformation.
The third pillar involves integrating AI into our internal fund processes, like sourcing, investment assessments, and portfolio value creation. Here we see using AI-enabled tools improving efficiencies through the entire process from due diligence, to portfolio reviews, to KPI tracking.
Finally, the fourth pillar is more macro, where we assess how AI impacts our overall investment strategy and sectoral approach. AI’s market influence is a big topic for everyone right now and there’s no defined path, so assessing and implementing under this pillar will be critical to the fund’s long-term success.
Are you already seeing these technologies influence deal sourcing and the investment approach at BC Partners?
Cameron Hulett: Definitely. These technologies have been shaping our work for a while now. One of the biggest impacts has been in enhancing and streamlining processes rather than replacing them outright.
For instance, in deal sourcing, we’re using AI-enabled tools at the portfolio company level to identify and target add-on acquisitions. This technology can assess assets, market position, financials, and governance much faster than before. What used to take days can now be done in minutes, letting us screen more companies and focus on those that can really add value to our portfolio. Over time, as we refine this approach, we’ll use historic assessments as benchmarks to pinpoint future candidates of high value.
Another element in deal sourcing is identifying companies likely to face AI-driven disruption (positive and negative). This assessment is becoming crucial as we review potential investments, ensuring we are able to maximise opportunities presented by AI whilst minimising downside risk on those most vulnerable to disruption by the technology.
How do you approach working with BC Partners’ portfolio companies on AI?
Cameron Hulett: One of our core approaches with digital transformation and AI is ensuring there’s a clear strategy. It’s essential for both us as a GP, and for the companies we work with. Transformation needs a long-term vision—a roadmap that prepares businesses for where technology will be in five years, not just today, especially considering the speed of change we are experiencing. The first step with any of our companies is, in line with our approach at fund level is to ensure they have a structured AI strategy that aligns with their goals, both now and in the future. We want to avoid any ad-hoc, isolated implementations that don’t serve a broader purpose.
After aligning this strategy with their management teams and our investment thesis, we provide ongoing support and expertise to help them execute it effectively. Part of this work is identifying opportunities for add-ons to gain market share or enhance efficiencies, making sure they’re ready to seize these opportunities. We’ve been working on AI strategies here at BC Partners for over 18 months now, and with all the recent excitement and interest, it’s rewarding to bring our expertise into action and create real value with our portfolio companies.
Looking ahead, where do you see AI taking the private equity industry over the next 5 to 10 years?
Cameron Hulett: As AI continues to mature and GPs develop more standardized approaches, I think we’ll see a stronger focus on understanding AI’s underlying technology and how it works alongside other tools and digital initiatives. Right now, people generally grasp the large platforms like ChatGPT, but we are only now starting to see the wider ramifications of this new wave.
Currently, AI is often seen as an efficiency tool that handles specific tasks like summarising documents or performing basic analysis. But looking forward, we anticipate more autonomous systems of AI agents, all working within semi-autonomous workflows where they collaborate with or without human input, and working within a wider context with other technologies. This evolution could lead to independent ecosystems of AI, interacting to solve complex tasks collectively.
Some predictions, like having AI on company Boards, might be a bit ambitious, but in this vein, having an AI interface as a key advisor at board meetings, providing fast, efficient analysis or asking insightful questions, is entirely plausible. At these senior levels, we may see AI assisting in ways humans may find sensitive or challenging to address directly – moving far beyond the current conceptions of solely efficiency gains.
Everyone agrees AI is already upon us – and the current debate in the business world is between those who believe it is an over-hyped evolution in human-tech collaboration and those that see it as a fundamental shift that profoundly effects everything. Often, the latter plays out as an existential threat leading to catastrophe or dystopia. I hope we can thread the line between these two, but that’s a discussion for another day!
For now, it’s an incredibly exciting time, and I’m thrilled to be part of BC Partners, leading this work in AI and digital transformation.