The signature moved toward finance
The CFO or finance was named on 43 percent of August sign-off answers, up from 33 percent in the cohort through July. Business-unit sign-off fell from 12 to 4 percent. The CEO remains the most-named signer at 50 percent in August and 47 on the full base. As the signature moves to finance, finance demands the proof: proving ROI rose twelve points to 65 percent as the main blocker.
The budget did not follow
Twenty-eight percent of finance-lane respondents have no clear AI budget, 26 percent in August. Net-new money is the largest source at 41 percent; 21 percent fund AI with money that would have gone to headcount. The report classifies every respondent into four funding archetypes, Funders, Unbudgeted, Substituters, and Reallocators, each with a different question at the next audit.
The seat cut
CEO-seat respondents name the CEO as signer at 70 percent and expect payback inside six months at 70 percent. Finance-seat respondents name the CFO at 63 and expect fast payback at 42, with six to twelve months their most common answer. The CEO seat funds AI from headcount money at 34 percent, the finance seat at 19. The finance seat names data readiness as its blocker at 33 percent, twice any other chair.
The vertical cut
Technology and enterprise software is the most CEO-led and most optimistic vertical: 63 percent name the CEO, 73 percent expect fast payback. Big Tech and platforms report no single owner at 50 percent. Professional services has the least budget clarity at 47 percent with no clear budget. Fintech is read from the seller side, where the CFO is named by 52 percent and usage pricing runs at 70.
What it means for the CFO
Take the signature and name the metric the same day. Know which of the four archetypes the company is. Have the payback conversation with the CEO before the board asks. And fix the data, because a third of the finance seat says that is where the proof is stuck.
Who should read it
Who should read it: CFOs and finance leaders benchmarking their AI budget and sign-off against peers, CEOs who want to know what their finance seat is thinking, and vendors selling into the office of the CFO.
Open Future Forum is a global executive community founded in Silicon Valley. Its network reaches tens of thousands of executives and investors worldwide. It runs a year-round calendar of events for senior executives and investors, including CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, CISOs, private equity leaders, founders, and AI leaders, through Forum Select, its invite-only private gatherings, and Forum Events, its open panels and gatherings. Beyond events, Open Future Forum convenes peer groups and executive boards and publishes original research built on first-party survey and qualitative data from its executive network. The research program draws directly from those rooms.
Read the CFO AI Leverage Report →
Open Future Forum is a global executive community founded in Silicon Valley, whose network reaches tens of thousands of executives and investors worldwide. Its research program, including the Executive AI Leverage Report and the role editions of the Enterprise AI Buying and Budget Index, is built on first-party survey data from executives attending Open Future Forum events.