Podcast Interview: Nate Heeren on Building the Data Foundation for Private Equity Value Creation

In a recent episode of Top Consultant with RJ Lumba, Riveron National Private Equity Leader Nate Heeren discussed the realities he sees across the M&A lifecycle, from diligence and integration through operational improvement and exit. His perspective is especially relevant for private equity sponsors and portfolio company leaders navigating growth, complex transactions, and accelerating AI adoption.

For Nate, the starting point for any technology undertaking is recognizing that each sponsor and each management team presents a different operating reality. "No two PE sponsors do things the same way," he said. That is why value creation support can begin with a discrete need or something far more expansive in scope, such as building the finance, accounting, and technology infrastructure.

Often, earlier stage businesses demonstrate the greatest demand for scalable technology, data, and finance infrastructure. These organizations have focused primarily on growth, revenue expansion, and capital reinvestment. Naturally, fewer dollars are available to invest in the back office. As these businesses take on sponsor capital for the next stages of growth, a long list of priorities appear overnight: better data, performance visibility, debt and management reporting, process scrutiny, addressing legacy or disaggregated operating systems, and more.

As Nate put it, "Most of the time, the focus has been on growth and revenue generation, rather than on how to sustain that growth with the right accounting, finance, and technology infrastructure." The goal is not to merely add controls or back-office capacity, but to give management teams reliable information, clearer processes, and an operating foundation that can support the desired growth and scale of the business.

Technology transformations are now inseparable from that conversation. Heeren noted that technology initiatives increasingly follow, or move alongside, efforts to stabilize accounting and finance operations. That is partly because AI, automation, and more advanced systems depend on data that is organized, governed, and trusted.

"There is a misconception (in the market) that you can bring in a tech-savvy person and plug AI in right out of the gate," Heeren said. "The reality is, in order for any of this to work, whether it's AI, automation, or a new system, you have to have strong baseline data."

That observation should resonate with both sponsors and management teams. AI can create meaningful opportunities; however, the effectiveness and magnitude of these opportunities requires a strong foundational data layer. In the current environment, this portion of the AI enablement journey is usually neglected or requires a heavy lift before businesses can move to the next stage of the process. For this reason, Nate often asks sponsor clients: How many portfolio companies have good data? "I usually get a laugh (when PE sponsors admit): 'Maybe one,'" he said.

Nate's observations also reflect Riveron's own experience as a PE-backed organization that has grown through organic expansion, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. The firm has seen firsthand that growth heightens the need for scalable infrastructure, as well as clean, accessible data. The conversation also underscored why Riveron's partnership with Cuesta is relevant to this moment. As sponsors and management teams consider AI and data opportunities, Cuesta adds vital capabilities and execution to Riveron's technology, finance, and accounting solutions. The combined perspective connects the underlying data and systems work with the business and finance priorities of each client.

As Nate noted, the evolution of AI in the middle market will likely be more deliberate than headlines suggest. "This is going to be a longer evolution than the media might lead you to believe," he said. For sponsors and portfolio company management, that may be the most useful mindset: build the fundamentals, focus on the highest-value use cases, and create an operating model that can scale with the business.

Listen to the full episode of Top Consultant with RJ Lumba.

Some excerpts have been edited for brevity or clarity.