Annick Desmecht

In the high-stakes world of private equity, where speed, impact, and ROI define success, who should lead transformation - seasoned management consultants or dedicated in-house operators? Consultants bring structured playbooks, benchmarks and rapid diagnostics, but do they have enough skin in the game to drive lasting change? Transformation officers, deeply embedded in portfolio companies, offer hands-on execution, but can they move fast enough within the PE investment cycle? By examining the strengths and challenges of each approach, we’ll explore how to assemble the ideal team that drives transformation and delivers results. 

Too often the relationship between operating partners and the portfolio leadership team starts with scepticism. In this candid and practical session, we’ll explore the critical challenges operating partners face when trying to establish credibility and drive value creation alongside portfolio executives and look to answer the below questions:

·       The trust gap: why leadership teams may view operating partners as a threat, not an ally

·       Misaligned incentives and what to do about them

·       The danger of being "too helpful"—and how to strike the right level of engagement

·       Cultural friction between investor urgency and operational realism

·       What it really takes to shift from oversight to co-ownership of transformation