Private equity firms are increasingly embedding artificial intelligence specialists within portfolio companies as sponsors look to use the technology to develop new products, improve operations and create additional sources of revenue, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman have teamed up with Anthropic to create a roughly 160-person AI engineering operation that will initially support companies owned by the two private equity firms.
The initiative is part of a $1.5bn joint venture involving Anthropic and several Wall Street investors, including Apollo, General Atlantic and Goldman Sachs. Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Anthropic are each committing about $300m to the venture, which operates as a standalone business called Ode.
The intention is eventually to sell Ode’s AI implementation services to companies beyond the private equity sector, positioning the venture as a broader corporate technology services business.
For private equity sponsors, the model offers a way to deploy specialist AI talent directly into businesses rather than relying solely on traditional consulting arrangements.
Rodney Zemmel, global head of Blackstone’s operating team, said the firm was attracted by the senior engineering expertise available through the venture.
Blackstone intends to introduce Ode across 25 of its more than 270 portfolio companies. Engineers are already working at six businesses, with members of Blackstone’s applied AI team spending one to two days each week on-site helping companies implement projects.
At Chamberlain Group, the manufacturer of LiftMaster garage-door openers acquired by Blackstone in 2021 for a valuation of about $5bn, Ode specialists form part of an 18-person engineering team based at the company’s Illinois headquarters.
The engineers are helping develop software features that could expand the company’s relationship with customers. Existing and planned capabilities include notifications when packages arrive, alerts about household activity and technology that can recognise designated individuals.
Chamberlain is also rapidly increasing the number of connected cameras installed at customers’ properties. More than 3 million cameras are expected to be added this year, compared with 1.7 million in 2025.
Ode engineers are helping test AI software capable of learning household routines and identifying deviations that could warrant an alert.
The commercial opportunity has changed Chamberlain’s expectations for the business. Its digital-access operation is expected to generate approximately $500m of annual revenue by 2030, compared with $100m targeted for this year and $40m last year.
Before its collaboration with Ode, Chamberlain had estimated that the business would eventually generate around $160m in annual revenue.
AI is also being used to reduce certain operating expenses. Chamberlain said an advertising campaign supporting its smart-access products around Amazon’s Prime Day in June cost about one-tenth as much as the equivalent campaign a year earlier, partly because of AI tools.
Private equity executives involved in the initiative said revenue generation is a central objective, rather than using AI primarily to cut headcount or reduce costs.
At Citrin Cooperman, a Blackstone-backed professional services business, Ode engineers are developing a portal intended to improve interaction between accountants, financial advisers and their clients.
Hellman & Friedman has begun deploying the platform at Baker Tilly, one of its portfolio companies. Ode engineers are working with audit executives to examine the daily processes followed by accounting and tax professionals and identify areas where AI agents could be introduced.
The external team is also intended to supplement Baker Tilly’s relatively small internal software engineering operation.
Portfolio companies pay Ode through commercial consulting or service agreements, while participation remains voluntary. Blackstone executives said individual businesses determine whether the platform makes sense based on its cost and suitability for particular projects.
Ode also acquired AI services startup Fractional AI in May. Chamberlain had already been working with Fractional AI before the acquisition, and most of the startup’s AI engineers subsequently joined the new venture.
Other financial firms are pursuing similar opportunities. OpenAI has established a competing AI services venture backed by a $4 invebnstment led by private equity firm TPG, with the aim of helping businesses implement artificial intelligence.
For Ode, the private equity portfolios of Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman provide an initial pool of potential customers and real-world testing environments before the venture expands more aggressively into the wider corporate market.
Ode chief executive Chris Taylor said demand from both private equity-backed and independent companies is continuing to build.
