M&A Masterminds: Making Deals That Deliver
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Mergers and acquisitions are often viewed as bold moves on the corporate chessboard — headline-grabbing, high-stakes, and transformative. But ask experienced strategy officers, and you’ll hear something very different: the best M&A deals don’t make the strategy — they amplify it.
In a recent The Chief Strategy Officer Podcast, I was joined by Kevin Ilcisin and Alok Agrawal. Kevin, a former SVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at National Instruments, brings a scientific mindset to M&A, shaped by his Ph.D. in Astrophysical Sciences.
Alok, Chief Strategy Officer at Celestica, a $7B global manufacturing and supply chain leader, draws on experience from Kearney, Johnson Controls, Meritor (acquired by Cummins), and Tenneco. Together, Kevin and Alok shared practical insights into the strategy, execution, and integration behind successful deal-making.
Acquisition is Not the Strategy — It’s the Accelerator
Mergers and acquisitions have a way of capturing headlines and exciting stakeholders. But behind the scenes, seasoned strategists know: M&A is not a silver bullet — and it should never be the strategy itself.
“Acquisitions should never be your strategy. They should be your accelerator of your strategy.”
- Kevin Ilcisin
This distinction is more than theoretical — it’s foundational. Alok elaborated by identifying two strategic roles acquisitions can play.
The first is acceleration: using a transaction to scale faster into a market where organic growth is too slow or capital-intensive.
The second is what he calls “blue sky” — entering entirely new business lines or capabilities that are too distant from the core to build internally.
“In these times, when organic dollars are tight, you might do a deal that accelerates your growth. Or, in a blue-sky scenario, you might add a business line you’d never build yourself — but that, with the right deal, makes perfect sense.”
- Alok Agrawal
What matters, both agreed, is that the acquisition supports a strategic thesis that already exists. Problems arise when a company lets the deal become the strategy. The search for a target becomes the strategy itself — and that’s when misalignment, overpayment, and integration failures are most likely.
This is a timely reminder for business leaders: before you chase the deal, get crystal clear on the outcome you want the deal to serve. Strategy first. Acquisition second.
“That’s a place a lot of people run into challenges. You fall in love with the deal instead of testing it against your real strategic goals.”
- Kevin Ilcisin
Stay “On” — Even When You’re Not Buying
In the world of M&A, timing is everything. That’s exactly why you need to be preparing all the time — not just when you’re actively shopping for a target.
Instead, great companies operate with a continuous M&A posture. They’re always scanning the market, building relationships with investment banks, talking to founders, attending industry events, and gathering intelligence.
“Acquisitions are not a faucet you turn on and off.”
- Alok Agrawal
That ongoing exposure has two major benefits. First, it sharpens the company’s situational awareness — giving leaders a better sense of what assets are out there and how they align (or don’t) with the broader strategy. Second, it creates the flexibility to act when the timing is right — which, in M&A, is rarely something you can control.
Successful M&A functions treat the pipeline like a sales funnel. This mindset shift is critical. Too many companies only activate their M&A engine when a specific opportunity emerges. But by then, it’s often too late — relationships are cold, intelligence is outdated, and the internal alignment needed to move fast hasn’t been built.
“Your primary goal is to qualify things out of the funnel. It’s not about trying to make every conversation work — it’s about filtering quickly so you’re only investing time in the right opportunities.”
- Kevin Ilcisin
That’s why both executives emphasized the importance of a large, active pipeline and a clear set of screening criteria. Sometimes, when the fit feels right, speed matters. Alok shared an example where, after a single compelling phone call, he flew overnight to Europe for a face-to-face meeting with a target’s CEO.
“It was a brutal trip, but that one meeting saved us ten others. When you feel that clarity, you move fast.”
- Alok Agrawal
The lesson is clear: treat your M&A capability like a standing function — not a seasonal project. Because when the right opportunity comes along, you’ll only win if you’ve already done the groundwork.
The Chief Strategy Officer: The Orchestrated Conscience
When it comes to M&A, the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) plays a uniquely powerful — and often misunderstood — role. They’re not just a project manager or a deal reviewer. At their best, they are the orchestrated conscience of the company, ensuring that every potential acquisition aligns with the broader strategic goals of the organization.
The CSO occupies a uniquely integrated position within the organization. From this vantage point, they can see across departments, strategies, and initiatives in a way few others can. This perspective allows them to align diverse efforts toward a unified vision.
“You’re kind of the orchestrated retreat. You know all the pieces — the businesses, the finance, the strategy. You should be the one putting all the views together: corporate development, the business units, finance. You speak with one voice about the company’s collective needs.”
- Alok Agrawal
According to Alok, in companies where the CSO doesn't formally “own” corporate development, there can be confusion about where their responsibilities begin and end. The CSO should always own the strategic lens — the why behind a potential acquisition, even if others manage the how.
Kevin echoed this sentiment, pointing out that even in decentralized organizations where individual business units may pursue their own deals, the strategy office plays a critical governance role.
“The CSO’s most important job is to ask the deep, focused questions. To challenge the assumptions. To make sure this isn’t just a good story — that it actually works within the strategic framework.”
- Kevin Ilcisin
This requires a willingness to create constructive tension — pushing business unit leaders and deal teams to justify how a transaction fits within the broader strategy, not just their local goals. It also means protecting the company from “deal heat” — the tendency to get swept up in momentum or excitement rather than maintaining clear-eyed discipline.
“You're the conscience of the strategy. And when you play that role well, you help the company walk away from bad deals before they become expensive mistakes.”
- Kevin Ilcisin
But the role doesn’t stop there. The CSO must also be a blue-sky thinker — someone who isn’t waiting for deals to be brought to them but actively exploring what’s possible.
“The thing I’ve learned most over the last 10 years is to lean harder into blue-sky thinking. Don’t just wait for the business to say, ‘Hey, here’s a company we should look at.’ As the CSO, you’re in the best position to step back and say, ‘What would really move the needle? What could reshape our future?’”
- Alok Agrawal
This mix of discipline and imagination — grounded orchestration and visionary exploration — is what separates tactical strategy officers from transformative ones.
At the end of the day, the CSO is the rare executive who holds the whole map. And when M&A is on the table, they must navigate not just where the company can go, but where it should go — and how every move supports the bigger picture.
For more analysis into mergers and acquisitions, strategy innovation and leading insights into business acceleration, visit Outthinker.com.