Clean rooms are especially common in merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions involving highly sensitive industries or when dealing with proprietary technology, trade secrets, or other valuable intellectual property. By establishing a clean room, the buyer and seller can engage in discussions and analysis while minimizing the risk of information leakage that could potentially jeopardize the deal.
Introducing AI into a clean room environment is helpful as long as it’s secure and procedures are in place to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure.
Microsoft SharePoint, Copilot, and Power Automate are great tools to support M&A efforts and keep teams organized and focused. They can assist in managing M&A clean rooms for teams in the following ways:
Tools for Managing Clean Rooms
Microsoft SharePoint
Helpful for: Document and file management
- Document Management: SharePoint provides a robust platform for document management. In M&A clean rooms, you can create dedicated SharePoint sites or libraries to store confidential documents related to the transaction.
- Access Control: SharePoint allows fine-grained access control. You can restrict access to authorized team members so only relevant individuals can view or edit sensitive information.
- Versioning & Auditing: SharePoint tracks document versions and maintains an audit trail. This is crucial during M&A negotiations, as it ensures transparency and accountability.
- Collaboration: Teams can collaborate on documents within SharePoint, making it easier to review, annotate, and discuss critical files in real time.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Helpful for: Efficiency and productivity
- AI-Powered Assistance: Microsoft 365 Copilot leverages large language models (LLMs) to assist users in various Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). It’s embedded in these apps to help users be more efficient.
- Creativity & Productivity: Copilot generates drafts, suggestions, and content based on natural language prompts. For example:
- In Word, it jump-starts the creative process by providing a first draft that you can edit and iterate on.
- In PowerPoint, it helps create presentations by adding relevant content from your existing documents.
- User Control: You remain in control as the author. You can modify, discard, or accept Copilot’s suggestions.
Microsoft Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow)
Helpful for: Automating processes and workflows
- Workflow Automation: Power Automate allows you to automate repetitive tasks and processes. In M&A clean rooms, users can set up flows to trigger actions based on certain events (e.g., document uploads, approvals, notifications). For instance, when a new document is added to a SharePoint library, Power Automate can notify relevant team members or initiate an approval workflow.
- Integration with Other Apps: Power Automate integrates seamlessly with various Microsoft 365 apps and third-party services. You can create custom workflows that connect SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, and more.
- Data Transformation: Power Automate can transform data between different formats to ensure consistency and compatibility across systems.
Together, these apps contribute to efficient and secure management of M&A clean rooms, enabling teams to collaborate effectively while safeguarding sensitive information.
Key Considerations When Using AI with Confidential Data
When AI is involved with confidential information or sensitive data, teams must be aware of the potential risks. The following are best practices when using AI, and any technology for that matter.
- Be purposeful with how you use AI. Make sure it contributes to your organization’s overall strategic objectives.
- When using AI for company purposes, make sure you have approval before downloading or feeding information through any new AI software, especially when sensitive information is involved.
- Avoid entering confidential, secure, or proprietary information into external AI tools. Instead, remove the confidential or identifying information first, and then run it through.
- Don’t accept every AI output as truth. Sometimes AI delivers incorrect information or data, so verify the accuracy of anything AI produces.
For more info on implementing these AI tools, or for an overall more successful M&A transition, reach out to us at info@trenegy.com.
