Wall Street is prioritizing bigger, smarter deals that show lift fast. Fewer shoppers in the aisle, but the ones buying are choosing assets with real demand, clean fit, and usable data. Each acquisition plugs into a shared backbone, so brands learn together and improve faster.

That’s portfolio compounding powered by AI. In fact, this month’s headlines tell the same story across nearly every sector too. In healthcare, AI connects care and billing so revenue lands faster. In travel and adtech, real intent has finally met distribution, so budgets can follow results (instead of hunches).

Even creative tools are rolling into broader workflows to remove bottlenecks – look at Nano Banana’s integration with Gemini 2.5.  It was game changing and for the first time we heard more about Gemini than GPT in news cycles. Different fields, same idea. Buy momentum, connect it to shared intelligence, and let performance improve with every run.

Why now. Rates have steadied. Valuations look sane. Data rooms are cleaner. Integration speed is no longer a twelve-month promise. Start with traction and week-one lift is on the table. Boards want that. Investors pay for that. Operators who can absorb and ship inside a planning cycle set the pace.

How value shows up. Audience truth shapes creative that feels native to the micro-community. Media paces to real capacity, not wishful calendars. A win in one pocket of demand points directly to the next ten without a reset. Second-order effects become the story. Lower acquisition cost. Higher lifetime value. Cleaner forecasts. Better multiples.

Where RAD Intel lives. Our AIBO approach is straightforward. Acquire where demand is undeniable. Integrate into one decision layer that moves across brands and channels. Build out with compounding loops so each success trains the next. We operate for time to value. We measure on outcomes. We keep the ceremony out of the room.

Net-net: Selectivity is up. Proof over promises. Teams that can show lift without noise will define the run into 2026. And, fortunately, that is the lane we are running.

Fast takes on what’s trending

• I didn’t know… 67% of CFOs expect consolidation in their sector within 18 months. If that’s not a clear indicator of the power of AI, I don’t now what is.
• I’ve been Inspired by… Shopify is expanding its ecosystem by pairing tools and brands (with baked-in traction) with its proprietary distribution intelligence. It is a page from our AIBO playbook and we are watching closely.
• I’m excited about… Morgan Stanley’s fall outlook calling for a more active buyout market as rates stabilize. We feel the same. Rate clarity pulls dry powder off the sidelines and rewards deals that show lift inside one planning cycle.
• Liked the creativity of… Adidas testing Discord-only drops that turn micro-communities into smart GTM. It’s proof that owned communities beat broad reach when creative feels native and scarcity is paced on purpose.

This fall will sort the modelers from the builders. AIBO backs the builders. We buy real demand, wire it to a learning layer, and compound across the entire portfolio.

And, we’re already at work. For a conversation, send NEWSLETTER to jeremybarnett@radintel.ai.

Stay relentless,