Ownership and value travel together
Investors who name the CEO as the AI owner in their portfolio companies see nothing measurable in 9 percent of cases. Investors who name the CTO, 5 percent. Investors who say it is too early to name anyone, 41 percent. Named ownership and measured value travel together, and it is the same statement the operators make from inside the building.
The seat that owns shapes the use
Where the CEO owns AI, product impact is 62 percent and cost cutting 37. Where the CIO or CTO owns it, cost impact rises to 53. A value-creation plan should say which it wants and name the seat accordingly.
Partners and principals see different chairs
Partners name the CEO as the owner at 62 percent; principals and associates at 32. Conviction is identical, 89 percent for both. The boardroom sees the decision at the top; the diligence room sees it where the evaluation happens.
By fund type
Corporate venture is the most decided group: nobody says too early, product impact 70 percent, cost 40, conviction 90. Venture says too early at 26 percent. Private equity is four people and is not shown; the fund-type question goes on every investor form from October.
The investor at home
Answering for their own firms, investors expect payback inside six months at 35 percent, the lowest of any seat, and report no clear AI budget at 50, the highest. The standard applied to the portfolio is not yet applied at home.
Who should read it
Who should read it: Venture, growth, corporate venture, and family-office investors, limited partners asking what share of a portfolio has a measured AI return, and founders who want to know which seat the capital sees.
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.
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.