Technology due diligence Is the technology real, and is it durable?
We help investors, boards, acquirers and organisations understand what is actually being built, what makes it different, what it depends on and where the important questions remain.
The question isn’t whether the demo works. It’s what has to be true for the company to work.
What we test
Technology claims can be difficult to evaluate from the outside, particularly when capability, commercial ambition and technical language become mixed together.
Is it real?
Does the underlying technology do what is being claimed?
And what evidence supports that claim?
Is it different?
What is genuinely distinctive?
And what could be reproduced using widely available technology, models, infrastructure or expertise?
Can it scale?
What changes as use grows significantly?
Moving from a prototype or early deployment towards significantly greater use.
What does it depend on?
Which dependencies are critical to the proposition?
Data, models, suppliers, infrastructure, partners, licences, people or external platforms.
A convincing demonstration is the beginning of the question.
The depth of that examination should depend on the technology and the decision being made.
A prototype can prove that something is possible.
It does not necessarily prove that it is reliable, scalable, defensible or commercially useful.
Technology due diligence looks beyond the visible demonstration to the system underneath it.
- Architecture
- Dependencies
- Data
- Operational reality
- The assumptions underneath the demonstration
In AI, the model may be the least differentiated part.
AI companies can appear technically sophisticated while relying heavily on capabilities available to many others.
Durable value tends to sit in what surrounds the model, and in the organisation’s ability to keep building it.
The wider system
Product architecture, workflow and evaluation around the model.
Data & domain
Proprietary data, accumulated learning and domain knowledge.
Integration & operations
How tools, information, permissions and failure are actually handled in production.
Adoption & distribution
Real user behaviour, distribution and dependence on external models or infrastructure.
The objective is to understand where the actual capability and defensibility sit.
A moat can disappear when the frontier moves.
A technology can look differentiated today and become commonplace surprisingly quickly. This is particularly important in AI and other rapidly advancing fields.
Our diligence can draw on the wider monitoring and research behind Future Intelligence to consider how emerging capabilities, competitors, open technologies and convergence could change the strategic value of what exists today.
Understand what has actually been built.
We examine the technical proposition at the level required to understand how the system works, which components are genuinely proprietary, which are external, and where important dependencies or constraints sit.
Depending on the technology, that can include architecture, infrastructure, models, integrations, technical choices, performance assumptions and the relationship between research or prototype work and the production system.
What remains valuable if the underlying technology becomes widely available?
Technical advantage can come from many places. It may sit in proprietary technology.
It may sit in data, domain knowledge, integration, workflow, infrastructure, accumulated learning, execution or the difficulty of reproducing the complete system.
We look at where defensibility appears to exist and what could weaken it as the wider technology landscape changes.
What breaks when usage grows?
Technology that works for a demonstration, pilot or small customer base may behave very differently at scale.
We examine the assumptions behind performance, cost, reliability, infrastructure, data, integration and operational complexity.
The relevant questions depend on what is being built.
For some companies the constraint may be compute.
For others it may be manufacturing, supply chains, data, specialist talent, regulation, energy, hardware or something less obvious.
Can the organisation keep building what the proposition requires?
Technology is not independent of the people building it.
We look at whether the organisation appears to have the technical capability, depth and understanding required for the product it is trying to create, and where critical knowledge may be concentrated.
This is not a conventional management assessment. The question is whether the technical ambition and the capability available to deliver it are aligned.
The scope follows the question.
These are possible areas of examination rather than a fixed framework. Not every engagement examines every area.
Technical credibility
What the technology does and the evidence behind the claims.
Architecture & dependencies
How the system is constructed and what it relies on.
AI & model dependencies
Where third-party models, APIs, infrastructure or rapidly commoditising capabilities affect the proposition.
Data
What data matters to the system and whether it contributes meaningfully to capability or defensibility.
Scalability
What changes technically, operationally or economically as usage grows.
Defensibility
Where the technology or complete system may be difficult to reproduce.
Team capability
Whether the technical ambition appears aligned with the expertise available.
Technology landscape
How changes outside the company could strengthen, weaken or obsolete the current proposition.
Before a decision becomes expensive.
Technology due diligence is most useful when the technical claim matters materially to the decision and the answer cannot be taken at face value.
Investment
Independent technology perspective before or during an investment decision.
Acquisition
Understanding the technology behind a company or asset being considered.
Board oversight
Independent challenge around major technology claims, investments or strategic decisions.
Partnerships
Understanding the technology and dependencies behind a potential strategic partner.
Internal investment
Challenging a significant technology initiative before committing further resources.
Emerging technology
Understanding unfamiliar or rapidly evolving technology where internal expertise is limited.
For people who need an independent view before committing.
- Investors
- Family offices
- Boards
- Acquirers
- Corporate venture teams
- Leadership teams
What are you trying to verify?
Tell us what you are looking at and what you need to understand.
The right diligence scope depends on what you are considering, what is already known, the technology involved and which uncertainties matter to the decision.
Start with the company, technology or opportunity and the question you need answered. We can determine the appropriate scope from there.
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