The New PE Playbook: Rewiring Value Creation Through Strategic Transformation

Private equity is facing one of the most significant shifts in its modern history.

Rising rates, tighter debt markets, and subdued exit multiples mean that financial engineering alone can no longer deliver expected returns. As McKinsey noted in “Bridging Private Equity’s Value Creation Gap,” firms must now place operational value creation at the center of the investment thesis, not as a secondary lever.

Brookfield reinforces the same point: “Improving operations is one of the most reliable ways to create value” in today’s market, often representing the majority of performance uplift post-acquisition.

This new reality has elevated the role of operating partners, portfolio operations teams, and transformation leads. They are the active investors - the ones who step into the asset, diagnose operational performance, and drive the initiatives that actually deliver EBITDA, margin expansion, synergy realization, and growth.

But there’s a problem. What I hear repeatedly from operating partners is:

“We fail on execution inside the portfolio companies, and we need a better operating model to close that gap.”

This is why so many firms are now building a new playbook. One that focuses on strategic transformation, not one-off projects, and on execution discipline embedded in the asset, not consultant-led reporting.

Why a New PE Playbook Is Needed

The traditional value creation model was built around:

• Planning treated as a static milestone, rather than a time-boxed value plan with a clear hand-off from planning into disciplined execution
• Consultant-led PMOs focused on delivery, with limited uplift of execution capability inside the portfolio company
• Manual reporting, heavily reliant on spreadsheets and slide packs
• Siloed initiative tracking, making it difficult to see interdependencies or cumulative impact
• Quarterly performance reviews, identifying issues after value has already slipped

But the world has changed. Today’s deals require:

• faster operational uplift
• more cross-functional change
• more complex reporting requirements
• more active oversight
• earlier intervention points
• a consistent way of working across a diverse portfolio

Operating partners tell me:

• “We walk into a new asset and lose the first 6–12 months to ramp-up.”
• “Every portfolio company reports differently.”
• “We don’t have best practice ways of working across the portfolio.”
• “I need real-time visibility, not retrospective slide decks.”
• “We need the detail, not the narrative.”

The need for a repeatable, standardized, portfolio-wide operating model has become undeniable. This is what the new playbook must solve.

What I’m Hearing From Operating Partners

Across the globe, operating partners consistently share the same pain points regardless of industry, fund size, or deal type.

“We need a playbook we can deploy on Day 1.”

Operating partners can’t afford bespoke setups for each company. They need something they can roll out immediately when an asset closes.

“We need portfolio-wide consistency.”

A single way to define value, track initiatives, measure benefits, and escalate risks. Without this, each company becomes its own operating model.

“We need real-time visibility into operational value.”

Margin uplift, cost-out, synergy traction, revenue levers, all connected to financial outcomes and easily reportable to IC and LPs.

“We need the detail.”

Not summaries. Not narrative reporting. Actual operational pacing, risks, slippage, and interdependencies.

“We can’t rely on consultants to run the transformation.”

Consultants help diagnose; they don’t own execution. When they leave, the capability leaves with them.

“We need a system that survives leadership turnover.”

The operating model can’t evaporate when a new CEO or CFO steps in.

This is the heart of the new PE playbook:

Strategic transformation must be repeatable, measurable, and fast.

Strategic Transformation: The New Value Creation Engine

The firms outperforming today aren’t the ones hoping rising multiples will return. They’re the firms that are active owners.

They are institutionalizing:

One way of working across the portfolio

A consistent transformation framework for tracking value creation.

One language for value

Synergies, margin improvement, cash flow uplift, growth initiatives - defined and measured the same way.

One execution rhythm

Weekly initiative reviews, monthly transformation checkpoints, quarterly portfolio performance cycles.

One truth for reporting

No spreadsheet wars. No versions. No inconsistent models.

One system that embeds discipline inside each company

A transformation system that outlives leadership changes and consultant engagements.

This is strategic transformation done the PE way: fast, standardized, value-focused, and execution-led.

Why Technology Is Now the Enabler, Not the Driver‍

McKinsey describes the issue clearly: value creation is often lost because performance is invisible until it’s too late to intervene.

Operating partners need a system that provides:

• clear line-of-sight from initiative → forecast → actual benefits
• drill-down detail for intervention
• real-time dashboards for management and boards
• consistent reporting across companies
• rapid deployment without heavy consulting support

What they don’t need:

• another project tracker
• another spreadsheet
• another consultant-built dashboard
• another siloed reporting system

They need a unified execution backbone that supports their playbook.

Why Operating Partners Choose Amplify

Amplify has become the platform operating partners prescribe to their portfolio companies because it delivers exactly what the new PE playbook requires:

1. Rapid deployment measured in days or weeks

Operating partners can stand up a transformation operating model almost immediately after close.

2. A standardized, portfolio-wide value creation framework

The same definitions, the same structure, the same reporting across every company.

3. Real-time visibility into operational and financial value

Synergies, cost-out, margin uplift, operational KPIs all linked directly to financial outcomes.

4. Deep detail for intervention

Not just dashboards. Granular pacing, risks, interdependencies, and realization curves.

5. Reduced dependence on consultants

The operating model is institutionalized within the company, not rented from a consulting team.

6. Durability through leadership changes

New CEO? New CFO? The transformation system remains intact.

Amplify isn’t just software. It is the execution backbone for the new PE playbook.

A Real-World Example

A PE firm rolled Amplify out to eight of its portfolio companies.

Within 90 days:

• A consistent transformation framework was deployed across all companies
• More than $1B in initiatives were tracked in real-time
• Initiative slippage and pacing problems were identified early
• Weekly and monthly rhythms were standardized portfolio-wide
• Consultant PMO spend was significantly reduced
• Investment committees received clearer, more defensible reporting

One operating partner put it perfectly:

“This is the first time we’ve had a portfolio-wide view of value creation we can use to identify trends in time to take action.”  

The New PE Playbook: What It Requires

From what I’m seeing across leading firms, this is the emerging industry standard:

1. Stand up strategic transformation immediately

Within weeks of acquisition.

2. Use a repeatable value creation framework

One structure for cost, revenue, synergy, operational improvement.

3. Deploy a unified execution backbone

One source of truth for all transformation reporting.

4. Establish a disciplined execution rhythm

Weekly operational reviews, monthly leadership forums, quarterly portfolio updates.

5. Intervene early

Active ownership means no surprises.

6. Institutionalize execution capability inside the asset

A system that lasts, accelerates, and compounds.

This is the playbook that consistently delivers value in every market cycle.

Closing Thoughts

Private equity has moved from financial engineering to operational excellence. From passive oversight to active ownership. From high-level plans to detailed execution.

The firms that win in the decade ahead will be those who master strategic transformation not as a project, but as a disciplined, portfolio-wide operating model.

Amplify gives active investors the backbone to run that model at pace.

Because in PE today, value isn’t created in the model, it’s created in the execution.

See how leading PE firms operationalize the new playbook. Request a demo.