JAMES' BLOG

Most AI initiatives fail before they ever reach production, and the cause is rarely the model. This article introduces minimum operable data, the scoped, governed data foundation every AI initiative needs to run reliably, and shows executives exactly what to require of their teams before funding moves from pilot to full production scale.

Private equity holding periods have reached a historic high, and the backlog of portfolio companies that are ready to exit but still sitting on the books for four years or longer is now the largest on record, equal to more than half of total buyout backed inventory according to McKinsey's Global Private Markets Report. That trend is not confined to sponsor backed portfolios. It shows up just as often in the boardrooms of companies still led by their founders, where the hardes