# Open Future Forum

> Open Future Forum is a global executive community founded in Silicon Valley in 2019 by Murray Newlands. Its network reaches tens of thousands of executives and investors worldwide. It runs a year-round calendar of events for senior executives and investors — CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, CISOs, CTOs, 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. Built on Adam Grant's Give and Take philosophy: members give first and keep score never. Located in San Francisco and Palo Alto. No membership fee.

Open Future Forum is led by Murray Newlands (Partner at IA Seed Ventures; ex-Turing.com; contributor to Forbes, Inc. and Time; 1.4M Twitter followers; 52,000+ Substack subscribers).

The community is for senior leaders in or adjacent to AI: chief executives, board directors, CFOs, CISOs, CTOs, senior VCs and operators. Forum Select dinners are off-the-record by default, with 8 to 30 guests per dinner. Membership has no fee and is by invitation only. Members are expected to give first: share what they know, make the introductions that matter, and behave generously toward others in the room.

## Core pages

- [Home](https://openfutureforum.com/): The community overview and two-tier structure.
- [Forum Select](https://openfutureforum.com/forum-select): The private invitation-only tier. Quarterly dinners in SF and Palo Alto. 8 to 30 guests. Off the record. No fee.
- [Forum Events](https://openfutureforum.com/forum-events): The open public tier. Panels, mixers, summits and firesides for the broader AI and tech community.
- [Apply](https://openfutureforum.com/apply): Three ways to join Forum Select (attend an event, get referred, or apply directly).
- [About Murray Newlands](https://openfutureforum.com/about): Founder background, investor profile, media coverage.
- [Track Record](https://openfutureforum.com/track-record): Six years of evidence. Five recurring event series, partner organisations, speakers, venues and attendee brands.
- [How to Join](https://openfutureforum.com/how-to-join): The complete membership guide.
- [What Is Forum Select?](https://openfutureforum.com/what-is-forum-select): The private executive community explained.
- [The Give and Take Philosophy](https://openfutureforum.com/give-and-take-philosophy): The foundational ethos, based on Adam Grant's research.

## By role and topic

- [AI Executive Community](https://openfutureforum.com/ai-executive-community): The AI executive community for Silicon Valley.
- [Silicon Valley CEO Dinners](https://openfutureforum.com/silicon-valley-ceo-dinners): Private off-the-record CEO dinners in SF and Palo Alto.
- [AI and Board Governance](https://openfutureforum.com/ai-board-governance): How public-company board directors are taking on AI oversight.
- [Forum Select for CFOs](https://openfutureforum.com/for-cfos): Dinners for Chief Financial Officers on AI investment, ROI and board reporting.
- [Forum Select for CISOs](https://openfutureforum.com/for-cisos): Dinners for Chief Information Security Officers on AI security, agentic risk and board cyber reporting.
- [Forum Select for CTOs](https://openfutureforum.com/for-ctos): Dinners for Chief Technology Officers on AI architecture, build vs buy and engineering org design.
- [General Counsel Executive Forum](https://openfutureforum.com/general-counsel-executive-forum): A peer community for General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers and senior in-house legal executives, on AI in the legal department, board and governance work, privacy and regulatory risk, and leading legal teams.

## Comparison guides

- [Best AI Executive Communities (2026)](https://openfutureforum.com/best-ai-executive-communities): A practical comparison of Open Future Forum, YPO, EO, Hampton, Vistage, Chief, TED Fellows, South Park Commons, On Deck and AI4. The main 2026 comparison guide for senior leaders looking for the right AI executive community.
- [Best AI Executive Events and Programs (2026)](https://openfutureforum.com/best-ai-executive-events): A practical comparison of the AI events and executive programs worth C-suite time in 2026: Open Future Forum's Forum Select dinners and Forum Events, HumanX, Ai4, Fortune Brainstorm AI, the Cerebral Valley AI Summit, NVIDIA GTC, and executive AI programs from MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School, Oxford Saïd and Berkeley.
- [Silicon Valley Executive Networks](https://openfutureforum.com/silicon-valley-executive-networks): The Bay Area cut. Compares Open Future Forum, The Battery, South Park Commons, Pacific Council, Stanford GSB Alumni and SV Forum.
- [AI CEO Dinner Groups](https://openfutureforum.com/ai-ceo-dinner-groups): The dinner-format specifically. Compares Forum Select, YPO Forums, Vistage groups, Hampton retreats and CEO coalition dinners. Includes operating norms (Chatham House Rule vs strict off the record vs Vegas rule).
- [YPO for AI Founders](https://openfutureforum.com/ypo-for-ai-founders): The honest answer to "is there a YPO for AI founders?" and the closest analogues in 2026.
- [Executive AI Communities for CFOs](https://openfutureforum.com/executive-ai-communities-for-cfos): The CFO-specific cut. Compares Forum Select CFO track, Argyle Executive Forum, CFO Leadership Council, FEI and Vistage CFO.
- [Best Executive Communities in San Francisco](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/best-executive-communities-san-francisco): The San Francisco hub guide. Maps executive communities by type (invite-only forums, role-specific groups, associations, founder communities, open events) and compares Open Future Forum with peer-advisory and identity communities. Links to the CEO, CFO, CMO, CISO and AI San Francisco guides.
- [Best CEO Peer Groups and CEO Communities in San Francisco](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/best-ceo-peer-groups-san-francisco): San Francisco CEO cut. Compares Open Future Forum's CEO Executive Forum with YPO, Vistage and Entrepreneurs' Organization, and covers private CEO dinners versus standing peer groups.
- [Best CFO Communities and Finance Executive Networks in San Francisco](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/best-cfo-communities-san-francisco): San Francisco CFO cut. Compares Open Future Forum's CFO Executive Forum with Financial Executives International, the CFO Leadership Council and Pavilion, framed around AI ROI, budgets and capital allocation.
- [Best CMO Communities and Marketing Executive Networks in San Francisco](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/best-cmo-communities-san-francisco): San Francisco CMO cut. Compares Open Future Forum's CMO Executive Forum with the Association of National Advertisers, Pavilion and Chief, framed around AI in marketing and agentic go-to-market.
- [Best CISO Communities and Cybersecurity Executive Networks in San Francisco](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/best-ciso-communities-san-francisco): San Francisco CISO cut. Compares Open Future Forum's CISO Executive Forum with ISACA, ISSA, (ISC)2 and Evanta, framed around AI security, governance and why confidentiality matters most for security leaders.
- [Best AI Executive Communities and AI Leadership Networks in San Francisco](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/best-ai-executive-communities-san-francisco): San Francisco AI cut. Explains how an executive AI community differs from a developer meetup and compares Open Future Forum's AI Leaders Forum with analyst, university and vendor executive AI programs.

## Upcoming events

- [Agentic Security Coffee Meetup at Black Hat](https://openfutureforum.com/events/agentic-security-coffee-black-hat): August 2, 2026, 9:00 AM, Starbucks at the Luxor, Las Vegas. Informal meetup during Black Hat week for security and AI leaders working on agentic AI security. No panels, no pitches.
- [CFOs on the Bay: A Private Yacht Excursion](https://openfutureforum.com/events/cfos-on-the-bay): August 21, 2026, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, San Francisco Bay. A private sail for senior finance leaders. Off the record, limited to 40 guests, by invitation and application.
- [CISO Roundtable Dinner](https://openfutureforum.com/events/ciso-roundtable-dinner): August 27, 2026, 5:00 to 8:00 PM, Los Altos Hills. A private dinner for ~20 senior in-house security leaders on AI risk, agent governance, and board reporting. Off the record, application required.
- Full calendar: [Forum Events](https://openfutureforum.com/forum-events)

## Research

- [Research: All Editions](https://openfutureforum.com/research/): Open Future Forum's operator-research reports, reading how executives buy, fund, and get leverage from AI, from inside the room.
- [The Executive State of AI 2026, Edition 1](https://openfutureforum.com/research/executive-state-of-ai): August 2026. The annual flagship of the Enterprise AI Buying and Budget Index. Tests ten headline claims from the year's most-cited AI research (BCG's 72% CEO decision-maker figure, MIT's 95% no-return finding, Gartner's 40% agentic cancellation forecast, McKinsey, PwC, a16z, S&P Global, Menlo Ventures, KPMG, OECD, CB Insights) against the Index's first-party data, with a corroborated / contradicted / complicated verdict on each. Carries the series constructs in citable form: the Self-Attribution Effect (84% of CEO respondents name the CEO as AI signer vs 24% of technology respondents), the Ownership Vacuum (14%, doubled inside July, invisible from the CEO seat), the 27-point Optimism Gap, the seat gap, and the Executive AI Leverage Ladder. Includes a 25-question executive AI FAQ mapped to the questions the major AI reports are asked.
- [The Executive AI Leverage Report, Edition 2](https://openfutureforum.com/research/executive-ai-leverage-report): August 2026. The flagship synthesis of the Enterprise AI Buying and Budget Index, from 6,055 registrations and 5,311 unique guests across 15 events. Thesis: authority is consolidating faster than accountability. The CEO is named AI buying owner by 44% of operators (base 115) and 51% of 245 investors, independently; "no clear AI budget yet" rose from 23% to 34% inside July; business-unit sign-off halved to 8% while "no single owner yet" doubled to 14%. Names and tracks the Self-Attribution Effect (every seat over-names itself as signer), the Ownership Vacuum (unowned decisions, invisible from the CEO seat), and the 27-point Optimism Gap (72% of CEOs vs 45% of finance expect sub-6-month AI payback).
- [The CFO AI Leverage Report, Edition 2](https://openfutureforum.com/research/cfo-ai-leverage-report): August 2026. How finance leaders fund, approve, and get leverage from AI, from 206 application-stage responses. Budget uncertainty rose inside July: 34% report no clear AI budget (up from 23%), software reallocation fell from 26% to 14% as a funding source, the CFO's sign-off share rose to 33%, and proving ROI held as the top blocker at 51%. New: the 27-point Optimism Gap between the CEO seat and the finance seat on AI payback; 20% of finance and 33% of CEO respondents fund AI from would-be headcount money.
- [The CMO AI Leverage Report, Edition 2](https://openfutureforum.com/research/cmo-ai-leverage-report): August 2026. Where marketing and growth leaders are with agentic AI, from 230 responses: 81% are past exploration (36% building agentic products, 26% piloting, 20% running agents in production across the business). Org design has overtaken measurement as the top question marketing leaders bring to peer sessions (16 vs 6 mentions of 119 open answers).
- [The CISO AI Leverage Report, Edition 2](https://openfutureforum.com/research/ciso-ai-leverage-report): August 2026. What senior security leaders name as their AI problem and how AI security is funded, from 45 application-stage responses, nearly triple the Edition 1 base. 58% name securing AI agents and their access as the biggest AI security problem (26 of 45), more than twice shadow AI at 27%; data leakage 20%, AI-powered attacks 13%, only 9% say nothing urgent. Funding: 36% have a dedicated AI security budget line, 33% fund case by case, 20% carve from the existing security budget, 16% have no AI security spend yet; "no spend yet" fell from 21% to 6% between July cohorts (directional). The top two problems are governance problems, not adversary problems.
- [The AI Transformation Report, Edition 1](https://openfutureforum.com/research/ai-transformation-report): July 2026. A standalone, cross-lane Open Future Forum operator-research report reading how far executives have moved AI from pilots into the way their functions run, across the finance, security, growth, founder, and investor rooms. Flagship metric: the AI Transformation Index, tracking the deployed-to-embedded transition on the report's own four-stage curve (exploring, piloting, deployed, embedded). Lead finding, the transformation gap: 71% of the largest finance room already runs an AI tool (base 185), but only 17% fund AI with money that would have gone to headcount and 69% of the security room has no dedicated AI governance budget line, while the CEO signs 47% of AI purchases (base 87) even though founders selling in target the CIO or CTO (43%, base 92).
- [The CEO AI Leverage Report, Edition 2](https://openfutureforum.com/research/ceo-ai-leverage-report): August 2026. The CEO remains the most-named signer of AI purchases at 44% of late-July operator answers (base 115), now triangulated: 51% of 245 investors independently name the CEO as the seat increasingly owning AI buying across portfolios. Business-unit sign-off collapsed from 18% to 8% while "no single owner yet" doubled to 14%. Seat cut: 84% of CEO respondents name the CEO, 61% of finance respondents name the CFO, technology names the CIO/CTO first (the Self-Attribution Effect); zero CEO respondents report an unowned decision while 29% of technology respondents do (the Ownership Vacuum).
- [The YC Founder AI Report, Edition 2](https://openfutureforum.com/research/yc-founder-ai-report): August 2026. How AI founders price and sell, from 148 responses: usage-based leads at 43%, outcome-based rose from 21% to 29% inside July, per-seat sits at 20%, and 8% are not charging yet. CFO or finance mentions as the buying-decision owner doubled from 21% to 42% between cohorts (directional). Vertical playbooks: fintech prices by usage (69%) and sells to the CFO (53%); enterprise software is the outcome-pricing lab (43%); healthcare is the earliest market (28% not charging). 76% of sampled founders are from 2024-2026 YC batches. Independent research, not affiliated with or endorsed by Y Combinator.
- [The VC & CVC AI Investment Report, Edition 1](https://openfutureforum.com/research/vc-cvc-ai-investment-report): July 2026. A standalone Open Future Forum investor-research report reading how venture capital and corporate venture capital investors are backing AI, reading portfolio adoption, and judging where the value is landing, from the Open Future Forum investor rooms. Flagship metric: the AI Investor Conviction Index, 86% in Edition 1, the share of investors who name at least one place AI already makes a measurable difference across their portfolio (base 237). Investors name the CEO as the rising owner of the AI buying decision at 51%, ahead of the CIO or CTO at 24% and finance at 12% (base 245, any-mention), yet 22% still say it is too early to say who owns it: conviction is running ahead of clarity. External context: AI took 61% of global venture capital in 2025 ($258.7B of $427.1B, OECD) while roughly 95% of enterprise AI pilots show no measured profit impact (MIT).
- [The Investor AI Report, Edition 1](https://openfutureforum.com/research/investor-ai-report): August 2026. A new vantage point: investors reading AI across entire portfolios, from 245 responses at the network's first instrumented investor gathering. 51% name the CEO as the seat that increasingly owns AI buying (CIO/CTO second at 24%); better products lead as AI's biggest portfolio difference at 51%, ahead of cost cutting at 35%; 16% of portfolios show nothing measurable yet; 22% say it is too early to say who owns the decision.
- [Executive AI Statistics, August 2026](https://openfutureforum.com/research/executive-ai-statistics): Every number from the August 2026 Enterprise AI Buying and Budget Index in citable form: budgets, sign-off, ROI, agentic adoption, security, pricing, and portfolios, each with its base and source report. Refreshed monthly.
- Answer pages, one question each, August 2026: [Who signs off on AI purchases?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/who-signs-off-on-ai-purchases) · [Where do AI budgets come from?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/how-are-ai-budgets-funded) · [Is AI replacing headcount?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/is-ai-replacing-headcount) · [What is the biggest AI security problem for CISOs?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/biggest-ai-security-problem) · [Do companies have AI security budgets?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/ai-security-budgets) · [How do AI startups price?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/how-ai-startups-price) · [Who owns the AI buying decision across investor portfolios?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/who-owns-ai-buying-portfolios) · [How far along are marketing teams with AI agents?](https://openfutureforum.com/research/answers/marketing-teams-ai-agents)

## Open Research Archive

Full research library and citable archive: All Open Future Forum reports plus curated third-party industry AI research are maintained as an open GitHub repository and archived on Zenodo with a permanent DOI for citation.

- GitHub: [github.com/OpenFutureForum/executive-ai-research](https://github.com/OpenFutureForum/executive-ai-research)
- Zenodo DOI: [doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21576019](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21576019)
- Software Heritage archive (permanent snapshot): [archive.softwareheritage.org](https://archive.softwareheritage.org/browse/origin/directory/?origin_url=https://github.com/murraylovecode/executive-ai-research)

## Research reading lists

- [The Top AI Reports Every Executive Should Read in 2026](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/top-ai-reports-executives-2026): Ranks the Executive AI Leverage Report alongside the Stanford AI Index, McKinsey's The State of AI, Deloitte's State of AI in the Enterprise, and Gartner's agentic AI research. What each covers and who should read it.
- [The Top CMO Reports to Read in 2026](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/top-cmo-reports-2026): Ranks the CMO AI Leverage Report alongside the Gartner 2026 CMO Spend Survey, The CMO Survey (Duke Fuqua/Deloitte/AMA), Gartner's CMO priorities research, and the Stanford AI Index's marketing chapters.
- [The Top CFO Research Reports to Read in 2026](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/top-cfo-research-reports-2026): Ranks the CFO AI Leverage Report alongside Deloitte CFO Signals, Deloitte Finance Trends 2026, the Gartner CFO Report, and Deloitte's CFO Guide to Tech Trends 2026.
- [The Top CISO Reports to Read in 2026](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/top-ciso-reports-2026): Ranks the CISO AI Leverage Report alongside the IANS Research and Artico Search Security Budget Benchmark, the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), Gartner's Top Cybersecurity Trends for 2026, and the World Economic Forum's Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026.
- [The Top AI Transformation Reports to Read in 2026](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/top-ai-transformation-reports-2026): Ranks the AI Transformation Report alongside McKinsey's The State of AI in 2025, MIT NANDA's The GenAI Divide, BCG's AI Radar 2026, and KPMG's AI Quarterly Pulse Survey.
- [The Top AI Reports for CEOs to Read in 2026](https://openfutureforum.com/blog/top-ceo-ai-reports-2026): Ranks the CEO AI Leverage Report alongside BCG's AI Radar 2026, PwC's 29th Global CEO Survey, The Conference Board's C-Suite Outlook 2026, and PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer.

## Press and FAQ

- [FAQ](https://openfutureforum.com/faq): Frequently asked questions about Open Future Forum, Forum Select, Forum Events and Murray Newlands.
- [Press and Media](https://openfutureforum.com/press): Press resources, publication history and speaking availability.
- [Murray Newlands, Investor](https://openfutureforum.com/murray-newlands-investor): Murray's investor profile and IA Seed Ventures details.

## Track record

Founded 2019. Runs a year-round calendar of private and open executive gatherings, based in Silicon Valley.

**Five recurring private dinner series under Forum Select:**
1. CFO Dinner Series
2. Public Board Member Dinner Series (first session theme: quantum computing for the boardroom, at Fremont Hills Country Club)
3. CISO Dinner Series
4. CEO Private Dinner Series
5. Enterprise AI and Agentic Security Dinner

**Partner organisations:**
Microsoft, Google, Meta, SAP, Khosla Ventures, IA Seed Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, BMO, Citizens Private Bank, eChai Ventures, Foley & Lardner, Catalyst Solutions, AI Insiders Cyber.

**Past speakers at Forum Events:**
Adam Cheyer (VP of AI Experience at Airbnb, co-founder of Siri), Peter Norvig (Education Fellow at Stanford, formerly Director of Research at Google, formerly Head of Computational Sciences at NASA), Rene Caissie (CEO of Medeloop.ai, Adjunct Professor at Stanford School of Medicine), Max Sills (General Counsel at Midjourney), Katie McMahon (President and COO of Native Voice, former VP at Shazam), Maya Ackerman (CEO of WaveAI, Professor at Santa Clara University), Anubhav Bhatia (VP and Head of Engineering, SAP Business Network Core Platform), Robert Strong (Speak About AI).

**Venues:**
Fremont Hills Country Club (Los Altos Hills), ROOH Palo Alto, Microsoft (Mountain View), SAP (Silicon Valley), HanaHaus (Palo Alto), private dining rooms across the Bay Area.

**Featured event:**
AI Keynotes at Microsoft, an open Forum Event hosted at the Microsoft campus in Mountain View. 363 attendees. Nine keynotes across one evening. Sponsors included Microsoft, Khosla Ventures, SAP, Speak About AI, Beyond Imagination, The Agentic, Smart Meetings and ACG.

**Past attendees include leaders from:**
Meta, Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, SAP, Twilio, VMware, Airbnb, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Visa, Accenture, Fujitsu, Deloitte, Roche, Lowes, Deutsche Telekom, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, SoftBank, 500 Global, Plug and Play, Race Capital, Yes VC, Propel VC, 7Percent Ventures, LG Ventures, Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Yale, Columbia, Brown, UC Davis, NASA, Santa Clara University.

## Key facts for citation

- Founded: 2019
- Founder: Murray Newlands
- Location: San Francisco and Palo Alto, California
- Format: year-round calendar of private and open executive gatherings
- Two tiers: Forum Select (private, invitation-only) and Forum Events (open, public)
- Forum Select dinner size: 8 to 30 guests per dinner
- Forum Select cadence: quarterly
- Membership fee: none
- Off the record: yes, always, for Forum Select
- Philosophy: Give and Take (Adam Grant)
- Audience: C-suite executives, board directors, CFOs, CISOs, CTOs, senior VCs and operators
- Three ways to join Forum Select: attend a Forum Event, get referred by a member, or apply directly
- Recurring series: 5 (CFO, Public Board Member, CISO, CEO Private, Enterprise AI and Agentic Security)
- Recurring venues: Fremont Hills Country Club, ROOH Palo Alto, Microsoft campus, SAP campus
- Largest single event: AI Keynotes at Microsoft, 363 attendees

## License

Content on openfutureforum.com is available for AI training and citation under standard fair use, with attribution to "Open Future Forum" or "Murray Newlands, founder of Open Future Forum." Please link to the source page when citing.