Global technology and ecosystem advisory firm Keystone has secured a strategic investment from Audax Private Equity to accelerate geographic expansion and practice growth. The transaction, finalized on January 2, 2026, includes the structural spinoff of the company’s Deep Enterprise™ AI platform into an independent software entity.
Structural Reorganization and the Keystone AI Spinoff
The partnership with Audax Private Equity facilitates a formal separation of Keystone’s advisory and software divisions. The Deep Enterprise™ AI platform—a decision engine designed for manufacturers managing global supply chains—will now operate as Keystone AI. This newly formed company will focus on developing foundation models for enterprise operations and manufacturing logistics.
As part of the restructuring, Greg Richards transitions from his role as CEO of Keystone to lead Keystone AI. RLH Equity Partners, a Keystone investor since 2021, has exited its stake in the advisory firm while retaining its position in the new software business. The spinoff is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
Leadership Transition and Executive Realignment
Jeff Marowits, formerly Keystone’s President, has been appointed CEO to lead the advisory firm’s next phase of growth. The leadership team remains anchored by a “Triad of Skills” model, integrating technologists, economists, and management scientists. This interdisciplinary approach is designed to address high-stakes litigation, platform risk, and regulatory complexity for a client base that includes Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft.
The firm’s senior leadership includes prominent figures from academia and government, such as Chief Scientific Advisor Dr. Susan Athey and European head Andrea Coscelli. These appointments underscore Keystone’s strategy of leveraging specialized expertise to navigate the intersection of machine learning and antitrust regulation.
Geographic Expansion and Market Strategy
The capital infusion from Audax Private Equity follows a period of significant scaling for Keystone’s core advisory services. The firm has recently established new operations in Washington D.C., the United Kingdom, and the Middle East to meet rising demand for AI strategic advisory and global technical investigation services.
By partitioning the advisory and software businesses, Keystone aims to streamline its focus on guiding global brands and government agencies through technological inflection points. The firm’s “Keystone Way” operating platform will continue to support its mission of protecting and creating value within large-scale digital ecosystems.
Strategic Outlook for 2026
Keystone intends to use the Audax partnership to further build out complementary practices and enhance its internal processes. Following the transition period, both Keystone and Keystone AI will operate as distinct organizations, though they will maintain a period of close cooperation to ensure continuity for existing global clients and partners.
About Keystone
Keystone is a global technology and advisory firm specializing in economics, technology, strategy, and complex digital ecosystems. The firm advises organizations on the strategic, regulatory, and competitive implications of transformative technologies, including AI and digital platforms. By combining advanced technology, strategic consulting, and applied econometrics, Keystone delivers innovative solutions to organizations across the technology, business, legal, and government sectors. Founded in 2003, Keystone operates globally with offices in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, London, Dubai, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit keystone.com.
About Keystone AI
Keystone AI is an enterprise software company that delivers AI-driven event prediction, forecasting, and automated decision optimization for large, discrete manufacturers with complex, multi-echelon supply chains. The company’s Deep Enterprise™ AI Platform acts as a scientific decision engine that augments existing enterprise systems, enabling faster, economically grounded decisions across planning and operations. Incubated within Keystone and now operating independently, the company helps customers reduce working capital, cut supply chain waste, improve service performance, accelerate planning cycles, and move beyond static heuristics to AI-driven execution at scale. For more information, visit Keystone.ai.
About Audax Private Equity
Headquartered in Boston, with offices in San Francisco, New York, London, and Hong Kong, Audax Private Equity is a leading private equity platform focused on investing across the North American middle market. Our objective is to accelerate value creation through our Buy & Build strategy and the Audax Value Agenda™, a holistic framework that seeks to create, enable, and protect value across every stage of the investment lifecycle. As of March 2025, Audax Private Equity had $19 billion of assets under management and, since inception in 1999, has invested in more than 175 platforms and more than 1,400 add-on acquisitions. For more information visit www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
