NYTA's AI and M&A Panel Brings Exit Questions to New York

NYTA will bring technology business owners and transaction professionals to Civic Hall in New York on November 16, 2026, for The AI Effect on M&A: New Opportunities, New Risks and New Rules for Buyers & Sellers. The in-person evening runs from 6–9 p.m. ET and combines a panel, audience Q&A and networking around AI's influence on acquisitions and exit preparation.

The scheduled panel brings together Jeanette Jordan of Withum, Ali Masoud of PCE Investment Bankers, Marci Weisler of Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips and Paul Ellis of Ellis Law Group LLC. Their professional perspectives span transaction accounting, investment banking, business development and law, giving owners several ways to examine the same sale process.

For an owner considering an exit, AI can make the description of a company more compelling while making the explanation of its value more demanding. NYTA's agenda puts that tension in front of people whose work involves evaluating, preparing and negotiating transactions. The useful preparation starts before a buyer gets to ask the questions on a deadline.

What NYTA's AI and M&A panel will examine

The published agenda connects acquisition opportunities and business-model disruption with buyer expectations, valuation, deal positioning and diligence. It also includes exit preparation for owners whose sale may still be some distance away. That gives the discussion relevance beyond companies actively approaching buyers: an operator can listen with a future transaction in mind while retaining time to investigate what needs attention.

The distinction between an AI-driven business and a traditional tech-enabled company matters here. One owner may be explaining how AI supports the company's appeal; another may be explaining how the business responds when AI changes customer expectations. The event description explicitly addresses both groups. Its value will depend partly on whether attendees bring concrete questions from their own businesses rather than treating AI as an all-purpose explanation for future growth.

Consider the difference between describing an opportunity and explaining why a particular buyer would want it. The first can fit comfortably in a presentation. The second requires a conversation about the company, its economics and its exposure to change. NYTA is putting those topics on one agenda, creating an opportunity to hear how different transaction disciplines approach them without assuming that every speaker will agree.

Four perspectives on the business a buyer would acquire

Jeanette Jordan is a Partner in Transaction Advisory at Withum. The firm's buy-side due diligence practice describes work involving earnings, working capital and potential exposures, which gives useful context for the accounting perspective on this panel. A company's attractive market story and the financial evidence supporting a transaction have to be examined together; neither tells the complete story on its own.

Ali Masoud is a Director in PCE Investment Bankers' M&A practice. PCE's current team profile describes deal-execution responsibilities that include presentations and due diligence. For an owner, that perspective creates room to ask how the initial explanation of a business holds together as a transaction becomes more detailed, and how preparation changes the questions an adviser can help answer.

Marci Weisler is Managing Director of Business Development at Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips in New York. Her official biography includes operating experience at T-Mobile Advertising Solutions and Vengo Labs, bringing relevant technology and media context to the discussion. Paul Ellis, Managing Partner at Ellis Law Group LLC, adds the legal perspective; the firm's practice includes mergers and acquisitions. The event lists all four as panelists, without identifying a moderator.

The questions owners can bring before an exit

A useful audience question can begin with a specific point where the company's story becomes hard to substantiate. What would a buyer need to understand about the business for its AI opportunity to become credible? Which parts of that explanation belong in financial evidence, and which call for a discussion of operational or legal risk? These are editorial questions suggested by the agenda, rather than a forecast of the panelists' answers.

Owners can also use the session to compare how the same concern sounds to different advisers. A growth assumption may invite a commercial question before it produces a financial or legal one. Hearing those perspectives together can help an operator recognize where the company needs a more coherent explanation, even when no sale process has begun. The point is to make preparation more specific while there is time to work through it.

The networking format gives those conversations space beyond the formal panel. NYTA schedules networking on both sides of the discussion and reserves time for audience Q&A, allowing attendees to bring their questions into the program. That is a useful design for owners and advisers; it is not a promise of buyer introductions, a transaction or a particular valuation.

November 16 at Civic Hall

Doug Binette and Camille Gallardo are listed as hosts, with NYTA presenting the event. Doors open at 6 p.m., the welcome, panel and Q&A start at 6:30 p.m., and closing remarks and further networking begin at 7:30 p.m. Guests depart at 9 p.m. ET from Civic Hall, 124 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003.

The official registration page lists a free standard ticket and was accepting registrations when checked on November 10. Prospective attendees should consult that page for current availability and updates. For an owner preparing to explain an AI opportunity to a buyer, the evening offers a place to put a difficult question into circulation before it becomes part of a negotiation.