ACG 101 March 25th 2026 Data, Deals, & Direction: How AI is Shaping Private Equity & Capital Allocation

Kevin D. DeBré is a technology business lawyer.  He leads the Artificial Intelligence Practice and the Intellectual Property and Technology Transactions Practice at Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP, a full-service corporate, intellectual property and litigation law firm. Kevin and his team create and implement AI governance frameworks and policies, and structure and negotiate technology commercialization deals producing successful outcomes.

Kevin represents companies of all sizes – from pre-formation to middle market – across a broad spectrum of industries – from AI to biotech.  He has been recognized by his peers for excellence in his practice – honored by Best Lawyers^® in 2021, 2023, and 2024, including being named “Lawyer of the Year” in 2021 and 2023 for Technology Law in Los Angeles, recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® in 2026 and honored by Super Lawyers^® 2016-2026.

Kevin received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco and his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis.  He is a member of the California Bar and a registered patent attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In 2025, Kevin received his Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP) credential from The International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Kyle Geers is a seasoned professional based in Los Angeles, CA. With 12+ years of public accounting experience, including 8 years at Top 10 accounting firm Grant Thornton, Kyle has been involved with financial statement audits of both public and private businesses, ranging from emerging start-ups to multinational corporations with complex operations. He also holds extensive advisory experience in assisting businesses with their technical accounting and financial reporting. He is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses accelerator program, and a member of the 2019-2020 Class of ACG Los Angeles’ Rising Stars Program.

Kyle is a licensed CPA in the state of California. He has significant knowledge of accounting standards under US GAAP, covering a wide range of accounting topics, and has led 100+ engagements to assist companies in transforming their accounting/finance functions to comply with US GAAP. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics from UCLA, with a minor in Accounting.

Dorna Moini is the CEO and founder of Gavel (www.gavel.io), the complete automation suite for lawyers. Gavel has two products: Gavel Workflows (rules-based automation) and Gavel Exec (generative AI assistant in Microsoft Word). Prior to starting Gavel, Dorna was an attorney at Sidley Austin. Dorna's prior pro bono practice led to the idea for Gavel; she previously worked with legal aid organizations to build a web application for domestic violence survivors to complete and file their paperwork. Dorna is on the Legal Services Corporation Emerging Leaders Council and a member of LAFLA's Advisory Board. She was named an ABA Legal Rebel and a Fastcase 50 honoree. She also teaches the Legal Innovations Lab at USC Law School.

Steve is the Founder and CEO of Critica, a buy-and-build data center lifecycle platform sponsored by Longbow Capital and Charlesbank Capital Partners. Critica is scheduled to emerge from stealth in Q2 following the close of its first three platform acquisitions.

Prior to founding Critica, Steve spent over a decade leading high-performance compute hardware companies serving silicon vendors and hyperscale data center operators, including NVIDIA, HPE, AMD, Meta, and CoreWeave. His companies specialized in advanced cooling technologies that are foundational to the development and scaling of modern AI infrastructure. Under his leadership, his most recent venture, CoolIT Systems, achieved more than 60% year-over-year growth for five consecutive years, culminating in a successful exit to KKR and Mubadala.

Earlier in his career, Steve served as CEO of multiple global, private-equity-backed organizations across a wide range of industries, including facilities management, medical devices, automotive, and consumer products.

Steve holds undergraduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Finance, as well as an MBA from USC with a concentration in Finance and Strategy. He is also a frequent data center advisor to private equity firms, supporting investment diligence and platform-building strategies.

Joe is CEO/Founder at OnlyEdge, a human decision intelligence system for PE, and Managing Member/Founder at Clear Skies Partners, an independent PE sponsor and M&A advisor. Prior to, Joe worked at VC-backed technology startups, including CFO of Ethos Space (lunar resources), CRO/Founding Team at Autonomy (automotive subscriptions), Finance Manager/Founding Team at Build-To-Order (automotive OEM) and Model E (automotive subscriptions). Joe was also Managing Member/Co-Founder at TRJLA (mixed-use RE development) and Managing Member/Co-Founder at Avant Development (opportunistic RE investment and development fund). Prior to, Joe was Head of M&A at Zukin Partners (Houlihan Lokey Co-Founder Jim Zukin), Head of M&A at Bank of China International (HKSE:3988), Head of China Cross-Border M&A & Head of Beijing Office at Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI), SVP at Deloitte Corporate Finance, and an Associate in LevFin and CorpFin at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC). Joe holds an MBA from Michigan Ross and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley. He won consumer discretionary "Deal of Year" at the 12th Annual International M&A Awards and carries an elite “Cat 2” road license with USA Cycling.