Doyl Burkett — Integrity Growth Partners | AI Won't Break Private Equity, It'll Sort It

Doyl Burkett is the founder and Managing Partner of Integrity Growth Partners, an $800M+ AI-enabled growth private equity firm in Los Angeles. Most GPs think about what AI does to the companies they own. Doyl is equally focused on what it does to the firm itself, and he's been building Integrity as an AI-native investor since 2018. In this conversation he argues that AI won't compress private equity evenly, it will sort it, and he shows what that sorting looks like for companies and for the GPs who back them.This is an episode of Proof of Work: AI Value Creation (formerly Just Curious), the podcast from Pluris on how AI is actually being adopted in the mid-market.You'll Learn:Why the "AI kills software" narrative is too simple, and the three-bucket framework Doyl uses instead (AI-native, defensible-moat, undifferentiated)The six kinds of moat he underwrites for in the AI age, from proprietary data to regulatory to human-in-the-loopHow an AI-native firm actually runs day to day: CAPE across sourcing, reporting, and operationsWhy GPs themselves are about to be sorted, and what separates the firms that can still raise from the ones that can'tHow Integrity used its own AI sourcing engine to find the AI acquisition that nearly doubled a portfolio company's revenue lineThe AI-adjacent decision he'd most want to redo, and why market reaction can matter more than the technology itselfWhy there's no AI quick fix, and how to tell a real capability from a wrapperChapters:00:00 - Intro: what makes Doyl's seat unusual01:04 - Who is Doyl, what is Integrity, and why "AI-enabled" from day one03:06 - The one thing to walk away with: why "SaaS is dead" is too simple04:24 - Bear case 1: does tech risk become existential, not manageable?07:02 - What defensibility actually looks like: the six moats12:03 - Bear case 2: did PE buy the disrupted, not the disruptors?14:16 - Leverage as an amplifier: how AI changed the capital-structure posture18:38 - The three-bucket framework for how AI sorts the asset class23:43 - The Adobe parallel, and how to tell AI-native from AI-marketing27:14 - What an AI-native firm looks like: building CAPE Sourcing32:55 - The payoff: doing more with fewer, getting there first, winning on trust35:53 - CAPE Operations: codifying the playbook and the CEO network38:59 - The portfolio conversation: AI as opportunity and threat, every time41:20 - Prop-tech case study: using AI sourcing to find an AI acquisition44:46 - Fund-level AI: CAPE Reporting, automating DDQs, the future of investing50:28 - "I want to be the wheat, not the chaff. Where do I start?"52:26 - What not to do: the AI quick-fix trap (Ferrari vs. Ford Focus)57:05 - Closing thoughts🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3OlTNvh2FGlE4VJyCrMJVE📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustCuriousAI🔗 More Expert Interviews: https://www.checkpluris.com/expert-interviews📩 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://proof-of-work-ai.beehiiv.com/Proof of Work is the podcast of Pluris, a platform connecting investors and operators with the world's leading applied AI experts. Each episode features the builders, operators, and investors who've actually put AI into production, turning it from buzzword to bottom line through sharp case studies and practical conversations. We explore how AI is used to grow revenue, expand margins, improve operations, and create measurable value inside real businesses.Learn more at checkpluris.comExplore more interviews and connect with experts at https://www.checkpluris.com Subscribe to our newsletter at https://proof-of-work-ai.beehiiv.com/