Orlando Bravo, founder and managing partner of Thoma Bravo, has defended his firm against criticism of private markets, stating that its deep sector expertise is distinguishing winners from losers due to the disruption of artificial intelligence across the software industry. His comments come amid increased scrutiny of private-market valuations and liquidity following a wave of markdowns and redemption pressure across private credit and equity funds. Bravo acknowledged overpaying for customer experience software company Medallia, but maintained that the broader portfolio is performing well. He also highlighted the difference between private equity-owned companies and publicly traded software firms facing increasing disruption from AI.