The Due Diligence Show

AI On the Books: Should You Build, Buy, or Borrow?

How do you get AI into your business without blowing the budget or locking yourself into a vendor you’ll regret later?

In this episode of The Due Diligence Show, Adam Jaques and Luke Silcock explore the real-world decisions behind operationalizing AI. Whether you’re building your own stack, renting from a hyperscaler, or experimenting with open-source agents in your office lab, this conversation is your field guide to navigating the modern AI supply chain.

💡 Topics covered:

• Build vs. Buy vs. Borrow — which AI adoption path is right for you?

• Token pricing explained (hint: think arcade economics)

• Model routers, local deployments, and agentic workflows

• Is Microsoft Copilot worth the spend? A brutally honest look

• Avoiding AI sprawl and understanding Model Context Protocol (MCP)

• What OpenAI + Jony Ive could mean for the future of AI hardware

Listen now and make smarter decisions about how your business uses AI — before the architecture, security, and CFO teams come knocking.

From Skills to Sec-Ops: AI’s Double-Edged Sword

In Episode 3 of The Due Diligence Show (Season 2), Adam and Luke get candid about the AI skills shift that’s already reshaping the workplace. From drop-in replacements for white-collar workers to agentic AI that codes entire apps solo, this episode unpacks how job roles are being augmented — or outright redefined.

Then the pair dives into the growing concern around AI security and trust. Luke walks us through the OWASP Top 10 AI risks — from prompt injection to model theft — and Adam probes whether companies are moving too fast with too little oversight.

If you’re a founder, tech lead, CISO, or just wondering how secure your AI tools really are, this one’s a must-listen.

When AI Fakes It Well: Productivity vs. Plausibility

AI can boost your business. But can you trust it?

In this episode of The Due Diligence Show, Adam and Luke dive into the messy middle of AI adoption: the promise of productivity versus the pitfalls of trust. From hallucinated news links to offshoring 2.0, we explore where automation works, where it breaks, and why “just use AI” isn’t a strategy.

 

You’ll hear:

– Real-world use cases in customer support, marketing, and engineering

– Where LLMs are delivering value — and where they’re faking it

– The shift from outsourcing to AI-sourcing

– What deepfakes, bias, and black box decisions mean for your brand

– Who owns the output — and who gets blamed when it fails

 

Whether you’re automating workflows, coaching sales teams, or just trying to debug an AI assistant that’s too confident, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating AI in the enterprise.

 

🎧 Also available on YouTube and ThoughtSourceConsulting.com

Season 2 Premiere: AI 101 and Beyond

We’re back! After a long break, The Due Diligence Show kicks off Season 2 with a deep dive into the world of artificial intelligence. Adam Jaques and Luke Silcock unpack what’s hype, what’s real, and what matters for businesses, investors, and tech leaders.

In this episode:

• What is AI — really — and why does it matter?
• Who are the major players (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and more)?
• How is AI already transforming industries, from tax authorities to creative tools?
• Why GPUs (not CPUs) power today’s AI breakthroughs
• What’s coming next: agentic AI, open-source models, and the competitive edge

Whether you’re just starting to explore AI or knee-deep in the latest models, this episode will get you up to speed — with practical insights and sharp analysis.

The art of communicating the deal

How to announce your deal! There are so many things to consider when communicating a deal to the world and those directly impacted. Thought Source use their experience to talk in detail about how to approach communicating different types of deals and what to consider when it comes to communicating how a deal affects those being acquired and those acquiring. It’s more complicated than you would first think!

Tech Teams and Talent

Tech Teams and Talent – A critical asset to analyze

HR Alert!! One thing that we love to investigate as part of technical due diligence is organizational structure, teams, and people.  This is an area that contains significant value as part of a technical asset, as well as a substantial amount of risk to ensure a productive future of the potential acquisition.

The Thought Source team discuss all of the areas that are usually investigated, from key product contributors, forecasted investment in people for success, integration considerations, office sprawl and more.

Are the key contributors still employed?  Is the success of a product reliant on one or two people?  Can the team scale to meet your deal thesis? We tell you how we find the answers during technical due diligence

How we analyse the product and its fit for acquisition

Look out Product Managers, this episode is all about you!  The Thought Source team are back in the deal room to discuss what they look for in a technology product and its suitability for acquisition.  They discuss everything from product features, market fit, what makes a good roadmap and indications that you have set the product up for a successful future in order to adapt and grow.

The secrets behind source code analysis

In this extended episode, the Thought Source team talk about how source code is assessed during a technical due diligence project.  Source code is sometimes referred to as the “crown jewels” when it comes to M&A transactions, it can certainly be the most valuable part of the intellectual property you are acquiring. 

When we undertake technical due diligence, it’s a process that we have honed for decades and source code analysis is a craft that, just like technology itself is ever changing. 

We take you behind the scenes and share some of our “secret sauce”!

Should we buy or build it for ourselves?

This is such a common question that our clients ask.  Many clients have a proficient engineering team who are eager to build something new.  So should you give them some budget and get them onto it, or acquire another company that may have already learned from their mistakes and built some market reputation?  The answer is never straight forward and the Though Source team give you their opinion in this episode of The Due Diligence Show.

What can be done before a deal

Do your deal homework! – that’s the message from this episode of The Due Diligence Show.

There are so many things that can be easily done before a deal is in play. The Thought Source team chat about how often a deal is in the final throws of due diligence and we ask ourselves, why didn’t the buyer know this beforehand?

Whether its competitive intelligence, bake-offs, outside-in reviews, product quality and support analysis, all of these activities can be easily done using publicly available information without the hint of a deal.