Dr. Oliver Gausmann

About me

I advise companies on AI strategy, governance, and regulatory compliance, as well as on the economical and efficient development of software. In parallel, I serve in CEO, COO, and CCO roles, and on supervisory and advisory boards, with a focus on technology and mid-market companies. Especially in AI transformations, the bottleneck is rarely the technology. It's the work with the people who have to use it.

I earned my doctorate at the University of Augsburg in Business Information Systems, summa cum laude. My research focused on situational value networks: collaboration and data exchange between companies and systems across organizational boundaries, in the context of order-driven product individualization. Back then, we called it mass customization. Today it's called composable enterprise or agentic workflows across organizational boundaries. Twenty years ago this was basic research. Today it sits on every board agenda, usually under a new name. I also hold a Diploma in Corporate Governance with Distinction from The Corporate Governance Institute.

As a lecturer, I teach in the Master's program in Business Information Systems at the University of Zurich. My courses cover global software management and aspects of AI and regulation in enterprise settings. If you want to know how I work: I write my articles myself. I use Claude and Perplexity for research and feedback. Editorial judgment stays with me.

What I focus on

Publications

Articles and analyses

• PE OperationsMarket & Strategy

  AI Due Diligence: How Investors Re-Underwrite Software Deals in 2026

  Tech deal value fell 70% in a single quarter because investors stopped trusting software valuations under AI pressure. A four-field AI due diligence playbook for boards, buyers and sellers.

  July 28, 2026 · 8 min

• AI & Technology

  A Forty-Ton Truck for a Loaf of Bread: Cutting AI Costs Without Cutting Quality

  A factor of ten separates the strongest model from the smallest. Cutting AI costs starts with sorting your tasks.

  July 21, 2026 · 9 min

• Market & StrategySoftware & Delivery

  Building your B2B SaaS castle: how niche players dig a moat in the AI era

  How smaller, niche B2B SaaS companies build a defensible castle, on their own data, deep workflow, regulation and a physical layer.

  June 24, 2026 · 8 min

• Market & StrategyAI & Technology

  Scaling B2B SaaS in the AI era: the wall everyone builds and the moat that pays

  Around six percent of companies turn AI into real bottom-line value. Four levers and a well-dug moat separate the winners from the expensive rest.

  June 14, 2026 · 9 min

• PE OperationsMarket & Strategy

  The clock is gone: how longer hold periods change the buy-and-build platform

  Hold periods keep stretching and evergreen vehicles keep launching. What that does to the buy-and-build platform, and where the line between group and company should really run.

  June 11, 2026 · 9 min

• Software & DeliveryMarket & Strategy

  How B2B software scales beyond direct sales: three levers from three operator roles

  In 2026, most B2B software no longer scales through direct sales alone. Three levers from three mandates, plus one thing that holds them all together.

  May 2, 2026 · 11 min

• Market & StrategyPE Operations

  MCP and B2B Software Business Models: What Changes for Private Equity

  Anthropic's keynote on the future of the Model Context Protocol in London and what it implies for B2B software business models, pricing, and PE valuations.

  April 21, 2026 · 10 min

Outside of work

When I'm not working, I fly. Private pilot license, seaplane rating. Good practice for decisions you can't take back.

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