Private Equity FunCast

Devin and Cass sit down with Kate Hopkins, founder of OneGuide, to break down the 36 AI value creation plays private equity firms and portfolio companies are running right now. From TAM mapping and list building with AI to revenue leakage detection, workflow automation, and agent ecosystem strategy — this episode covers what's actually working, what's not, and what's coming next.
OneGuide's "Top 36 AI Value Creation Plays" report: https://connect.askoneguide.com/hubfs/OneGuide%20-%20AI%20Value%20Creation%20Plays%20-%202026.pdf
This episode is sponsored by NetSuite Next. Try it free at netsuite.ai/funcast.

In this episode, host Cass Ziebel sits down with Frontenac VP Maggie Pugel for a candid conversation about breaking into private equity the non-traditional way. Maggie shares how she went from buy-side equity research at Ariel Investments to private equity at Frontenac — without the classic investment banking pedigree — and why she's glad she took the "career switcher" route. 
They dig into what makes PE uniquely demanding and rewarding, how AI is changing the deal process, the value of great mentorship, and the mindset shift that comes with learning to let go of what you can't control. Plus: favorite books, cheesy eggs, karaoke songs, and how hearing a professional opera singer changes your toddler's perception of your own voice.

The private equity market in 2026 was supposed to rip. So why has it fallen flat?
Devin sits down with Steven Buibish, CFA, Director of US Private Equity Research at PitchBook, to break down the first half 2026 data. Deal value in Q2 dropped 38% from Q1. Software dealmaking froze. Mega deals are doing all the heavy lifting, distorting every headline number, and yet prices haven't budged. We're sitting at 2021 valuation peaks while volume collapses and leverage dries up.
They dig into what's actually happening beneath the surface: the HALO rotation into hard assets and data centers, the add-on economy holding up the middle market, why 60% of software deals in market aren't closing, the zombie fund overhang, DPI falling off a cliff post-2018, and why first-time fund counts have cratered. Plus: why 2026 could still be a great vintage if you're doing the right kind of deals — and Stephen's prediction on where the next wave of growth in PE is coming from.
"Another False Start" report: https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q2-2026-us-pe-breakdown
Check out all of PitchBook's research at pitchbook.com.

Welcome to Parker Gals — the podcast by and for women in private equity. Hosts Cass Ziebel and Liz Xu kick off the very first episode from ParkerGale HQ in Chicago, introducing themselves and the show.
In this debut episode, you'll hear how Cass stumbled into PE after a 2.5 hour "networking lunch" that turned into an accidental interview, and how Liz almost talked herself out of the job before Cass convinced her she was more than ready. Other agenda items include butter-to-egg ratios, Gilmore Girls VHS tapes, a pair of auction-won sunglasses, and two very different answers to "what would you do if not private equity?"
Plus, a peek at the show's recurring segments: Indication of Interests (rapid-fire personal questions), Shop Talk (career stories), and Closing Call (fun finishers). If you know a woman in PE who should be on the show, reach out. We're just getting started.
Theme music by Jon O'Hara.

40% of PE firms and 60% of credit funds still track their portfolios on spreadsheets. That's now a way to monitor a few trillion in AUM. Private equity (and credit) are about to get way more transparent as retail investors get access to PE, and the tools you need to monitor and report your exposure must evolve. The products are way ahead of the plumbing. 
Devin sits down with Kevin Hsu, founder of Lumonic, a portfolio monitoring software company now part of PitchBook. We discuss Kevin's early career in private markets technology and what that taught him about the difference between the needs of VCs and PE firms. We talk about the coming convergence of public and private markets, and why the old ways of doing things (in spreadsheets) won't cut it in the new world of heightened transparency and regulation.
ParkerGale is in the middle of automating much of its internal workflows with new AI-powered tools, so this conversation will help other funds think through the options. Should you roll your own (Kevin has a surprising opinion on this), stick with what you've got, or make a switch? What should you expect from your software provider and how do you handle those edge case portfolio companies? We cover all this and more with Kevin.
https://www.lumonic.com/