Top ten accounting network Forvis Mazars recently appointed Nathan Reay as its technology, media and telecommunications sector leader in the UK. Boardroom Insight caught up with the executive on the occasion to get an inside look at those three segments. We asked about the business changes that AI is driving and the state of the M&A landscape. Reay leads the M&A team inside Forvis Mazars that handles tech, media and telco deals in the UK.

Forvis Mazars emerged last year from the merger of Mazars, a more than century-old accounting network, and a U.S. competitor called Forvis. The combined brand employs about 40,000 professionals. More than 3,300 of those staffers work in the UK across 14 offices.

Reay, who joined Forvis Mazars from fellow top ten accounting network Grant Thornton, said that high-tech and media companies are continuing to prioritize inorganic growth despite economic uncertainties. 

“The TMT M&A landscape in 2025 is resilient despite macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds (such as global tariffs) and continuing to reflect the ever-increasing pivot toward AI-driven capabilities,” Reay told Boardroom Insight. “We note dealmakers are prioritising long-term value creation through for example derisking supply chains, alongside a surge in investment in AI infrastructure, data centres and relevant talent acquisition. Software, cybersecurity, energy tech and telecom infrastructure remain hotbeds of activity.”

AI investment properties vary across the tech, media and internet provider segments. Reay explained that telcos are using machine learning to streamline tasks such as network maintenance. Tech firms, meanwhile, are looking to the technology as a source of product differentiation. 

“Tech companies in all sub sectors are looking to try and integrate AI quicker than their competitors in the market,” the executive explained. “The ‘arms race’ is real. The challenge then continues to be having the right talent to capitalise on what is possible as well as making shareholders / boards fully understand the ROI in the short term, not just the more obvious longer-term benefits.”

The competition for AI talent has reportedly helped some researchers land job offers worth more than most startup funding rounds. The tech industry’s largest players, in turn, have spent billions of dollars on so-called reverse acquisitions. Those are deals that are similar to a startup acquisition, but are intended mainly to help a large tech firm recruit AI talent. “In short, the race for AI talent and infrastructure is intensifying, with companies embedding AI into products and services to stay competitive,” Reay said.

Media companies are likewise adapting their business models to AI. “In media the impact of AI is also being hotly felt with acquisitions and investments into platforms that are generating AI content,” Reay said. The executive sat on the advisory boards of multiple media companies before joining Fovirs Mazars. “Media also has an ongoing investment consideration relating to the evolution of ‘Old Media’ companies and platforms to ‘New Media’ platforms operating in data rich environments. Acquisition or investment into new assets continues to provide the more reliable solution vs riskier in-house ‘build’ strategies.”

Hotspots in the tech M&A landscape draw not only IT companies but also private equity players. “Private equity firms remain very active across TMT and are actively working with us on their 2026 strategy across new investments as well as bolt-on and carve-out strategies,” Reay said.

M&A is not the sole focus of Forvis Mazars’ UK TMT practice. The group also helps clients with tasks such as improving internal accounting workflows and raising capital. In addition, Forvis Mazars offers more specialized services tailored to individual segments within the TMT sector. In the telecommunications industry, for example, the firm can help clients with international expansion initiatives. That might involve tasks such as mitigating the financial risks posed by currency fluctuations.

Photo courtesy of Forvis Mazars