Private equity firm EQT partners with Google Cloud for AI rollout

(Official correction to show in paragraph 5 engineers will work with 35 people in EQT’s AI transformation team, not 85)

By Isla Binnie

NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) – EQT has partnered with Alphabet’s Google Cloud to help more than 300 companies in the Swedish private equity firm’s portfolio accelerate the adoption of AI, the companies said on Thursday.

Under the agreement, EQT’s portfolio companies, spanning sectors from enterprise software to healthcare, will gain access to AI tools including the Gemini Enterprise Agent platform to build programs, as well as cybersecurity services.

The companies will also get early access to selected Google Cloud AI products in the future, the companies said in a statement.

As businesses race to integrate AI into their operations, demand for engineers and consultants capable of deploying and customising the technology has surged. Such partnerships also help AI developers expand their customer base.

Google engineers will work alongside EQT’s AI transformation team of about 35 people. EQT and its portfolio companies will also have access to Google Cloud’s partner network, which includes more than 330,000 specialists from consultancies such as Accenture, Deloitte and KPMG.

Google struck similar AI deployment deals in April with software-focused investors Vista Equity Partners and Thoma Bravo.

The deals also give the software companies in EQT, Thoma Bravo and Vista’s portfolios the chance to sell their own products on Google Cloud’s online store for other businesses.

Other major private markets firms including Blackstone and TPG are working separately with OpenAI and Anthropic to distribute their products to hundreds more organizations.

Bert Janssens, EQT’s co-head of private capital in Europe and North America, said the deal would help “management teams future-proof their businesses and be more competitive in an increasingly AI-driven economy”.

(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)