Vector Capital Management has tapped Kiran Rao as managing director and head of value creation. Rao is joining Vector from Vista Equity Partners, where he served for five years as chief operating officer of its operations team and led its AI taskforce across more than 50 enterprise software companies. Previously, he was an operating partner at TPG and a senior engagement manager at Mc Kinsey & Company. In addition to his new roles at Vector, Rao will also serve on the firm’s management committee.

Rao said Vector’s focus on lender-distress situations, complex carve-outs, deep-value take-privates in established software and venture buyouts was an opportunity he could not pass up. He praised its operational expertise and integrated approach, saying the investment and value creation teams work together from diligence through deal approval.

The opportunity developed through conversations with Vector’s chief investment officer and managing director Amish Mehta and founding partner and managing director Alex Slusky. They concluded that operational value creation has become the primary driver of returns, with AI adding to the process.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Vector was founded in 1997. The tech-focused PE firm has completed more than 60 platform investments since its inception. Rao plans to build on its value creation team and assess AI’s impact at the portfolio company level, tracking measurable effects across product, engineering and G&A at every board meeting.