See It Work — Five layers, one deal lifecycle | Book 11 · AI Agents for M&A

Unlike single-function agents, M&A agents are cross-functional by nature — they need financial, operational, and legal data together. The system runs in five layers, each mapped to a phase of the deal: screening (find and score targets), due diligence (read the documents), valuation (price the deal), and integration (plan the 100 days). The architecture is what makes them add up.

Five layers, one deal lifecycle — full detailed chart

The full detailed chart. Condensed for print legibility in the book; shown here at full size.

Bolt M&A agents together carelessly and they compound confusion — five tools each with its own view of the deal. Map them to the deal lifecycle and they create clarity: each layer hands clean work to the next.

What this means for you

Five layers map to the deal's phases, each handing clean work to the next. What this means for you: your M&A agents form one coherent process instead of five disconnected tools — so the work flows from screening to integration without anyone re-doing it or losing the thread.

The five layers map one-to-one onto the deal lifecycle:

M&A Architecture

screeningfind + score targets

due diligenceread the documents

valuationprice the range

integrationplan the 100 days

Five layers, one deal lifecycle — the architecture decides whether agents create clarity or compound confusion.

For the technical reader — the command, and how to verify it yourself

# one line · you do not need to run this
see walkthrough

see walkthrough
# -> the five M&A layers mapped to the deal lifecycle

Full step-by-step is in Appendix RX: Hands-On Demonstrations in the book.