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AI has quickly become a tool that's part of everyday work, used for everything from writing emails to summarizing lengthy documents and drafting project roadmaps. As someone who works in the small business financing industry, I've seen both a lot of hype and a lot of speculation about exactly what AI can effectively automate in the finance world.
One of those things my team and I at Clarify Capital have been particularly interested in is pitch decks: the presentations entrepreneurs use to explain their business, growth plans, and financing needs to potential investors.
Whether or not you successfully secure capital often depends on how clearly you can present your product, ideas, plans, and strategy. So, we wanted to know: Can AI help business owners make a more convincing case?
To answer that question, we conducted our own study in 2023. Clarify asked 250 investors and 250 business owners to rate pitch decks for marketing, tech, and finance businesses. Some were made by GPT-4, and others were made by humans who had already secured funding, but we didn't tell them that any had been generated by AI.
The results were surprisingly clear: In several key areas, people responded more positively to the AI-generated decks than the human-made ones.
I'll break down what we learned from the results, including where GPT-4 outperformed human-created pitches, what AI appeared to do well, what still needed a human touch, and what a strong investment pitch should include in 2027.
How the Pitch Review Is Changing in 2027
Before I jump into the results, I think some context for how the pitch-review process has changed recently is important. Just as much as entrepreneurs may be looking for help on the pitching side, investors have also begun to use AI on the review side. That changes what makes a pitch effective.
Investment teams can now use AI tools to summarize lengthy materials, organize deal information, compare opportunities against investment criteria, and speed up parts of the screening/diligence process. So basically, successful pitches are likely to be the ones that are geared toward this type of screening. They communicate the business model more clearly and efficiently. They primarily emphasize evidence.
What Clarify Capital's Study Found
Across the study, respondents were twice as likely to find the AI-generated presentations convincing as the human-made (and already capital-winning) decks. And, importantly, that reaction translated into investment intent: respondents said they were three times more likely to invest in the AI pitch decks.
Take a look at the outcomes:
How the Results Differed by Industry
In the finance industry, the gap was really wide. Respondents were 88% more likely to find the AI-generated pitch convincing than the human-created version, and 34% said they would invest after reviewing it, compared with 16% for the human deck.
In the marketing industry, it was a similar sentiment. Respondents were 73% more likely to find the AI-generated pitch convincing, and 35% said they would invest as a result, compared with 12% for the human-created version.
In the tech field, AI came out ahead yet again. Respondents were 70% more likely to find the AI-generated pitch convincing, while 37% said they would invest after seeing it, compared with 11% for the human-created deck.
Where a Deck Still Needs a Human
So, as we've seen, our survey results indicate pretty strongly that AI is better at building a strong presentation structure and getting across the most important points to investors quickly. The 500 respondents gave the AI decks higher marks for overall quality, clarity, and how well the key elements were explained.
What AI can't replace right now is a business owner's judgment.
Your real numbers, assumptions, company story, and reasoning behind the investment still need to come from the entrepreneur's genuine experience and perspective. The quality of what you put into an AI chatbot directly affects the quality of what comes out. And any stats, numbers, or figures AI generates absolutely must be checked before they make it into the deck.
What a Strong Pitch Deck Should Include in 2027
Now that we're in the age of AI, pitch decks generally should emphasize evidence, clarity, and efficiency. Because there's so much information available and able to be surfaced so quickly, an investor isn't relying as much on their “gut feeling” as they may have in the past.
A pitch deck should be a simplified and more visual version of a full business plan that's easy to follow and helps an investor understand what your business does, why the opportunity is worth pursuing, and why your company is likely to succeed. These are the slides that investors generally expect to see, and that you should aim to include:
1. Problem
1. Problem Show the specific customer problem you're solving and why it matters enough to support a business.
2. Solution
Explain what you offer, how it solves the problem, and what makes your approach compelling.
3. Market
3. Define the customers you're targeting and show that the opportunity is large enough to support growth.
4. Business model
Make it clear how the company earns money, what customers pay for, and what drives revenue.
5. Traction
Back up the story with evidence such as revenue, customer growth, retention, contracts, or other meaningful milestones.
6. Competition
Show that you understand the alternatives customers have and explain why your business can compete effectively.
7. Team
Highlight the experience and capabilities that make your team qualified to execute the plan.
8. Financials
Present the key historical numbers and realistic projections investors need to evaluate the business.
9. The ask
State how much capital you're seeking, what you'll use it for, and what that investment is intended to accomplish.
Other Ways To Finance Growth
You may already know this, but pitching investors is not the only way to get capital for your business.
At Clarify Capital, we specialize in helping established small to midsize businesses get financing through loans and other forms of debt. We've helped more than 50,000 small and midsize businesses across 1,000+ industries get business financing. Here's what the process looks like:
Step 1:Apply online
It takes about two minutes. You'll need your business's legal name, EIN, time in business, monthly revenue, requested loan amount, owner contact information, and a credit authorization.
Step 2:Connect with a lending advisor
A U.S.-based Clarify Capital lending advisor reviews the application, runs a soft credit pull (no impact to your score), and requests 3 to 4 months of recent business bank statements.
Step 3:Get matched and funded
Clarify Capital works with 75+ vetted lenders and matches your profile with the right financing. Approvals often get a same-day offer (SBA loans can take longer).
The right choice for your situation and business will depend on factors like whether you're willing to give up ownership, how quickly you need capital, and whether the business can support repayment.
| Option | What you give up | Typical speed | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity financing | A share of ownership and potentially some control over major decisions | Usually slower, since fundraising can involve multiple meetings and due diligence | Businesses pursuing significant growth that are comfortable bringing investors into the ownership structure |
| SBA loans | No ownership, but you take on debt and repayment obligations | As quickly as two weeks (typically 30 to 90 days) | Established businesses making larger, longer-term investments such as expansion, equipment, or real estate |
| Business line of credit | No ownership; you repay what you borrow, plus financing costs | As quickly as same day | Businesses that want flexible access to capital for recurring or short-term needs |
| Short-term loan | No ownership; you take on a shorter repayment schedule, usually with higher periodic payments | As quickly as same day | Businesses with a defined near-term need and enough cash flow to handle faster repayment |
| Equipment financing | No ownership; the financed equipment commonly serves as collateral | 1 to 5 days | Businesses buying machinery, vehicles, technology, or other revenue-producing equipment |
Methodology
For this study, we compared human-made pitch decks from different industries to ones created by GPT-4, an advanced artificial intelligence system. To do this, we provided GPT-4 with various prompts for each industry to generate pitches. Via a survey of 250 investors and 250 business owners, we compared the GPT-4 generated pitch decks against successful human pitches that had already secured funding. Participants did not know any of the pitches were AI-generated. Each respondent saw the same number of AI-generated and human-made pitch decks. Among respondents, 68% were men, 31% were women, and 1% preferred not to say.
Fair use statement
Feel free to share these findings for non-commercial purposes, but please provide a link back to this page to credit its creators and give readers full access to our findings and methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does Pitching Mean in Finance?
Pitching is a general word that just means presenting a specific idea and why others should support it. In the finance world, that usually has to do with things like investments and growth strategies for companies.
What Does Pitching to Investors Mean?
Pitching to an investor basically just means that you're telling them about your business model in hopes that they will want to invest in your company or give you money to keep growing. Getting to that point usually starts with finding investors who back businesses like yours, reaching out, and then sending a pitch deck or getting invited to present the business more formally.
What Are Some Good Ideas for Pitching to Investors?
There are infinitely many good ideas out there, but every investor is looking for slightly different things. My advice is to focus on making the business easy to understand. Clearly explain the problem you solve, how you make money, the traction you've already achieved, and what sets you apart from competitors.
What Are the Best VC Pitch Decks for 2027?
Honestly, there isn't just one. There's no sure-fire playbook here, which is why it can be challenging to get investment. Some good ones to look at that you can access easily as inspiration are decks from companies like Airbnb, Uber, and LinkedIn because they communicate the problem, opportunity, business model, and growth case clearly.
Can Investors Tell When a Pitch Deck Was Written by AI?
It depends on who's looking at it and the quality of the final product. In some cases, it's probably obvious, like if you didn't put much time into editing and guiding the chatbot to tell your business story well, and things are pretty generic. In other cases, it may not be. In our study, respondents weren't told which decks were AI-generated, and the GPT-4 decks still performed strongly against the human-created versions.
How Does Clarify Capital Protect My Business and Financial Information?
Clarify Capital follows Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) security principles that protect sensitive business and financial information, including secure data handling practices, controlled access to information, and ongoing monitoring to help protect your data throughout the application and funding process.
Michael Baynes
Co-founder, Clarify
Michael has over 15 years of experience in the business finance industry working directly with entrepreneurs. He co-founded Clarify Capital with the mission to cut through the noise in the finance industry by providing fast funding and clear answers. He holds dual degrees in Accounting and Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. More about the Clarify team →
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