AI rollups are buying accounting firms, IT service providers, property managers and insurance brokers on the bet that software will do much of the work. Most of the debate is about what AI can automate. This talk asks a different question: which customer bases are worth buying in the first place.

Viktoria Izdebska introduces the automation band: the range of roughly 30 to 70 percent of a vertical's work that AI can automate. Below the band, AI adds too little margin to justify a deal. Above it, buyers pay for staff they plan to replace and for customers who can switch quickly, so building beats buying. Inside the band, buying a company with existing operations and client relationships beats building one. There is one exception above the band: when the acquired client relationships produce data you cannot get any other way.

Drawing on her public tracker of more than 50 AI rollups, the talk shows how to place an industry on the band, where the main sectors sit today, and what this means for buyers, sellers and investors.

Format: keynote or talk (20 to 40 minutes); also works as a fireside chat or panel.
Audience: investors, acquirers, founders and owners of service businesses.
Language: English or German.
Background: izdebska.com/concepts/the-automation-band and izdebska.com/tracker