Putting AI to Work in Your Brokerage

A Practical Guide for Business Brokers

Most brokers I talk to are not short on deals. They are short on hours. The listing copy, the buyer follow-ups, the research before a pitch, the notes after every call. That work has to get done, and it eats the time you would rather spend in front of a client.

That is the real case for AI in a brokerage. Not the hype. It takes the mundane tasks off your plate and frees up time and energy for the work that actually closes deals, which is still you, in the room, reading the person across the table.

This is not a someday idea. Deloitte’s 2025 study of dealmaking organizations found most have already put generative AI into their workflows, and the heaviest use is in the early research stages of a deal (Deloitte, 2025). You do not need a tech team or a big budget to do the same. You need to know which tasks to hand off, and a few simple rules so you do it safely.

Start with the boring stuff

Do not start with the flashiest thing AI can do. Start with the most repetitive. Look at where your week actually goes and find the work that is high volume and low judgment. For most brokers that is writing, research, and follow-up. Those are the safe places to let AI help, because a draft that misses there costs you nothing but a quick edit. The parts that need your read on a person or a deal stay with you.

Marketing and finding listings

Packaging a business for sale takes more writing than people outside this work realize, and AI is good at first drafts. You still shape them, but starting from a draft beats starting from nothing. A few things it handles well:

• Listing copy, teasers, and blind profiles from the details you give it
• A short buyer-facing summary pulled out of a full CIM
• Buyer outreach emails and follow-up sequences you then make your own
• LinkedIn posts and market commentary that keep you in front of owners who might sell
• A quick briefing on an industry before you walk into a pitch

Your clients are already doing this. A 2025 Thryv survey found small business AI use jumped from 39 percent to 55 percent in one year, and marketing was the top reason (Thryv, 2025). The same tools helping them can help you.

Research and matching buyers

A lot of your value is knowing the market and finding the right fit. AI speeds up the grunt work behind both:

• Boiling long documents, financials, and industry reports down to what matters
• Building and sorting buyer lists from your notes and criteria
• Drafting a first set of questions for a management meeting
• Pulling comparable deal context before a valuation talk

One warning, right here. AI is fast, and it is confidently wrong sometimes. Treat every number and every comp it hands you as a draft to check, not a fact to trust. It does the prep. You make the call.

Communication and the admin pile

The follow-up that keeps a deal alive is also where your time disappears. AI can help you:

• Turn a call recording or your notes into a clean recap with next steps
• Draft the status updates that keep both sides informed
• Prep an agenda and briefing notes before a meeting
• Keep your CRM current by drafting the contact notes you never get to

None of this replaces the conversation. It clears the clutter around it, so you show up more present for the person on the other end.

The rules that keep you out of trouble

Your business runs on trust and on information people expect you to protect. So a few rules matter more than any tool you pick.

• Guard confidentiality. Never paste a client’s financials, a seller’s identity, or anything sensitive into a free consumer tool. Use a paid business version with real data protections, and know whether what you type is used to train the model.
• Keep yourself in the loop. Let AI draft. You decide. Every number gets checked, every document gets read, and everything goes out in your words.
• Be straight about what it cannot do. AI can organize information and spot patterns. It does not know your client’s goals, the mood in the room, or the quiet reason a deal comes together or falls apart. That part is yours.

That last point is not a weakness to apologize for. As these tools have gotten better, the field keeps landing on the same conclusion: the advisor’s job shifts toward reading the situation and asking the sharp questions, not shuffling documents (Cooper Parry, 2025). The software handles the pile. You handle the judgment.

How to start in the next 30 days

You do not need a plan on a whiteboard. You need one task and a short runway.

1. Pick one task. One repetitive job. Listing summaries or buyer follow-ups are good first picks.
2. Use a business-grade tool. Pay for a reputable one with data protections instead of grabbing a free version.
3. Write a one-page rule sheet. Spell out what never gets typed into these tools, and require a human read before anything goes to a client.
4. Track the time you save. Count the hours you get back over a few weeks. That tells you where to expand.

Start small. Prove it works. Grow from there. The risk stays low and you can see the payoff.

The relationship is still the job

AI is not going to replace business brokers. What it will do is separate the ones who use it well from the ones who do not, the same way email and a good CRM once did. The brokers who get the most out of it will use it to clear the busywork and put that time back where it counts: understanding the client, walking them through a hard call, and earning the trust that brings the next referral. This work has always been human. Used well, AI just gives you more room to do the part only you can do.

 

 

 

 

 

Jess Pischel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessboundpischel/

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References

Cooper Parry. (2025, October 20). How AI is reshaping the art of the deal. https://www.cooperparry.com/news/how-ai-is-reshaping-the-art-of-the-deal/

Deloitte. (2025). 2025 M&A and generative AI study. Deloitte Insights.

Thryv. (2025, July 17). AI adoption among small businesses surges 41% in 2025 according to new survey from Thryv [Press release]. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250717239434/en/