Off Mandate: Integration Technology — What Actually Works
No scripts. No presentations. No polished “best practices.”
This Off Mandate will be an honest conversation between a small group of experienced operators about what works, what fails, and where most teams waste time and money in the name of “technology.”
Think of it like eavesdropping on a conversation between friends who've been in the trenches — except it's recorded so other practitioners can learn from it too.
The goal: real debate, real disagreements, real lessons. Not polished talking points.
Who This Is For
This session is for integration leaders and teams who need to make real tech decisions during M&A, including:
Integration leaders / IMO owners
Corp dev and deal teams supporting integration
IT leaders and app owners involved in post-close execution
Operators responsible for making systems, data, and workflows work post-close
What You’ll Learn
We’ll get specific on:
What integration technology is actually doing well right now (and what’s still failing)
The tools and workflows that consistently work across integrations, plus the non-negotiables that make them work
Where most companies get it wrong: buying tools to “solve” problems they haven’t defined
The real debate: Are teams over-tooled, or under-invested in the basics?
How to pressure-test your situation with live audience scenarios and hard tradeoffs
How the Audience Participates
Q&A box: Drop your scenario or question anytime. Best format: what you're dealing with → what's stuck → what you need to decide.
Raise your hand: We'll bring select audience members on to speak directly.
Priority goes to: Specific, real situations over general questions. We want to help you solve something, not just talk about it.
Topic: Integration Technology — What Actually Works
The people who've been doing integration technology the longest have strong opinions about what tools, platforms, and approaches actually move the needle — and what's just noise. This roundtable gets into it.
About the Co-Hosts
Kison Patel – Founder, M&A Science | Chairman, DealRoom
Kison built DealRoom to ~$10M ARR and has led M&A execution across hundreds of transactions. He founded M&A Science to extract and share the patterns strong buyers use to win deals, turning practitioner experience into searchable, reusable intelligence.
Kathie Resteiner – Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal (Private Equity Performance Improvement) | Technology Industry Group
Kathie is an operating executive with 25+ years of technology and semiconductor experience, specializing in M&A diligence, post-merger integration, divestitures/carve-outs, IPO operational readiness, and transformation. She has led major initiatives including the separation of Intel’s $9B NAND business sale to SK Hynix, operational readiness for Mobileye’s $16B IPO, and integration planning for Intel’s proposed $6B Tower Semiconductor acquisition. Prior to A&M, she spent over a decade in Intel Corporate Development, most recently as VP and Head of Value Creation, where she built playbooks for integration, separation, and value capture.
Todd Manley – VP of Corporate Development Integration, Intel
Todd leads corporate development integration at Intel with over 18 years of M&A experience across Cisco, Symantec, Blue Coat Systems, HP, and Marvell Semiconductor. He's delivered deals with a total value of approximately $70B and cost synergies of $5B+, bringing a non-traditional path from IT and organizational behavior into M&A integration leadership. Todd specializes in managing large-scale tech integrations where systems complexity meets organizational transformation.
Jim Buckley – VP, M&A Integration at Coursera
Jim is a seasoned M&A integration expert with deep experience leading complex tech integrations at VMware (where he served as VP of M&A Integration), PayPal, and Microsoft. He's known for championing integration-led diligence processes and building executable integration plans during the deal phase rather than after close. Jim specializes in working backward from clear integration goals and keeping integration plans simple enough to maintain team alignment through complex deals.
Recording & Participation Guidelines
This session will be recorded for the M&A Science member library.
Disclaimer: Everyone participates in an individual capacity, not on behalf of any company. This discussion is for educational purposes only and does not represent legal, financial, or professional advice.
Please don’t share confidential or sensitive company information. (Keep scenarios real, but keep details clean.)
Member Access
M&A Science members get:
Full session recording access inside the Membership library
Session takeaways (key insights organized for practitioners)
Access to the broader M&A Science member library (plays, templates, and real-world frameworks)
If you want access: Become an M&A Scientist. Join the community of the best practitioners in M&A.
→ Membership: $995/year → mascience.com/membership
FAQs
Will this be recorded? Yes. The session will be recorded and available in the M&A Science member library.
Can I share what others said? Use good judgment. Keep it professional. Don’t share confidential details shared during the session.
What if I can't attend live? Members can access the recording after the session.
Who should attend? Integration leaders, corp dev, IT/app owners, IMO/PMO, and operators making real integration technology decisions, especially if you’re sorting signal vs noise on tools, workflows, and execution.
How do I become a member? Visit mascience.com/membership.
Can I ask questions during the roundtable? Yes. Drop a specific scenario in the Q&A box anytime (best format: what you’re dealing with → what’s stuck → what you need to decide). You can also raise your hand and we’ll bring select attendees on. Priority goes to real situations over general questions.