The people across the table
AI runs the process. This team runs the room.
Every engagement has a named principal and a deal team behind them — the people who negotiate, sign your engagement letter, and answer for your outcome.
AI-first M&A · human-backed
Tap where you are — the page adapts. Then walk every stage: the old way beside the Sentinel way.
The full walk-through
AI does the work at every stage. Humans handle judgment, relationships and accountability. Better price, better terms, better fit — and starting costs you nothing.
Not instead of people — alongside them
Three layers, working at the same time: the engine finds and prepares everything, the named team negotiates and is accountable for the outcome, and you decide. Nothing moves without your sign-off.
Working 24/7/365 — never off the clock
A senior principal, named in your engagement letter
Nothing above moves without your written go-ahead
The benefits, fleshed out
Every benefit below is a direct result of the engine — not marketing. Here is exactly what each one means for your sale.
The engine runs 24/7/365 — research, preparation and follow-up never pause for a weekend, a holiday, or a broker's other listings.
A continuously researched buyer universe — strategics, PE platforms, family offices, search funds, owner-operators — not one rolodex.
NDA-first by policy: no buyer sees your name or documents before signing, and every document view is logged.
Buyer Simulation works your business like a skeptical acquirer before you go to market — so weaknesses get fixed while they're still cheap.
Every offer deconstructed — cash at close, earnout, escrow, working capital, exposure — before a senior principal takes it to the table.
Your engagement letter is short and in writing before anything starts. Nothing moves without your written go-ahead.
$0 before the close — no retainer, no listing fee, no monthly charges. A single success fee, paid from the proceeds, only at closing.
A named principal in your engagement letter, backed by a full deal team — reachable by phone, not just by chat.
Which buyers get approached, what gets shared, which offer you take — every material decision is yours, always.
How the work actually sequences
A broker's process is a relay — each stage waits for the last. The engine runs every stage in parallel, from day one.
Each stage waits for the last — one buyer conversation, one document, at a time.
Research, preparation and follow-up overlap from the first day — nothing waits in a queue.
Illustrative — relative sequencing, not a timing guarantee. Recent LOI-to-close: ~2 months, as published on The Engine page →
Stacked up, side by side
| Metric | Typical broker | Sentinel — AI + team |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Works business hours, one listing at a time | The engine works 24/7/365, across your whole process |
| Reach to buyers | One rolodex — mostly local, mostly repeat buyers | A continuously researched buyer universe — strategics, PE platforms, family offices, search funds, owner-operators |
| Confidentiality | Varies shop to shop | NDA-first by policy; document views logged; nothing ever listed publicly |
| Cost before the close | Retainers and listing fees, owed regardless of outcome | $0 — a success fee only when your sale closes |
| Who answers your call | Whoever's available that day | A senior principal, named in your engagement letter, backed by a named deal team |
See the full fee picture: How we're paid →
Reach, visualized
The same few dozen contacts, called in sequence, listing after listing — mostly local, mostly repeat buyers.
A continuously researched buyer universe, scored against your business — not limited by anyone's memory.
The people across the table
Every engagement has a named principal and a deal team behind them — the people who negotiate, sign your engagement letter, and answer for your outcome.
See the difference for yourself
Start with a free read on your number, then see exactly how the engine would run your exit.
Before you ask
Confidentiality is built into how the engine works: buyers sign an NDA before they ever see your name, every document view is logged, and nothing about your business is ever listed publicly. Your information is shared only with buyers you’ve approved.
Yes — at every stage that matters. A named principal and deal team run your negotiations and are reachable by phone, not just by chat. The AI runs the research and busywork around the clock so the time you spend with your team is spent on what actually needs a person.
No. The engine finds buyers, prepares materials and deconstructs offers — but every decision is yours: which buyers get approached, what gets shared, and which offer you take. Nothing moves without your written go-ahead.
It isn’t priced as a discount product. You pay the same way either way — a success fee at closing, agreed in writing, nothing before it. What AI changes is the work: a wider buyer search, sharper offer analysis and an answer any hour, at no extra cost to you.
That’s fine. Call your principal directly, any time. The Desk and Vera are there when you want them — they’re not a replacement for a phone call, they’re what happens between them.