Finance finding
Finance is the second-most named sign-off role, at 31 percent, yet many companies lack a complete view of AI operating economics. Proving ROI is the leading spending blocker, while production agents introduce costs, identities and data dependencies that are not always assigned to a clear budget owner.
What October adds
The finance sample includes three events beyond the August yacht cohort. The sign-off base is 467, and the budget, blocker and payback questions each have a base of 389. Proving ROI is the leading blocker. In the separate AI Leaders cohort, fewer than half report full real-time visibility into AI costs.
Where this research comes from
The finance instrument appears across CFOs on the Bay, AI as a Force Multiplier, Buy, Sell, or Wait, and Claude for Finance. The common sign-off question also appears at Enterprise AI at Microsoft. Each question is deduplicated by email with the latest response retained.
Who signs
The CEO appears in 49 percent of answers, finance in 31, the CIO or CTO in 17, no single owner in 13 and an individual business unit in 10 (base 467, any mention). Finance ranks second and is responsible for turning the executive decision into a controlled investment.
Where the budget comes from
Net-new money is named by 41 percent. Thirty-one percent report no clear budget, 20 percent reallocate from software and 19 percent use money that would have gone to headcount (base 389, any mention).
There is no single funding model. Companies are using net-new money, proceeding without a clear AI budget, reallocating software spend or drawing on money that otherwise might have funded headcount. In many cases, the purchase precedes a settled accounting model.
What blocks more spending
Proving ROI leads at 54 percent. Integration follows at 23, security and compliance at 21, data readiness at 20 and talent at 12 (base 389, any mention). The constraints can overlap: a workflow that cannot connect to trusted data, integrate with systems or satisfy security will struggle to produce a result finance can verify.
The payback window
Fifty-three percent expect measurable return inside six months, 26 percent in six to twelve months, 10 percent in twelve to twenty-four months and 14 percent are not sure (base 389, any mention). That expectation places the demand for evidence early in the implementation cycle.
The cost-visibility problem
The AI Leaders cost question adds an operating measure. Forty-four percent report full real-time visibility into AI running costs, 39 percent partial visibility and 17 percent none (base 77). The CFO is being asked to prove ROI before the cost side of the equation is consistently observable.
October finance evidence
Finance is the second-most named authority
Who signs
| Answer | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | 227 | 49% |
| CFO or finance | 144 | 31% |
| CIO or CTO | 79 | 17% |
| No single owner | 60 | 13% |
| Individual business unit | 45 | 10% |
Base 467; any mention, so shares can sum above 100 percent.
| Respondent seat | Base | CEO | Finance | CIO or CTO | No owner | Business unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO or founder | 118 | 80% | 19% | 15% | 3% | 4% |
| Finance | 67 | 27% | 67% | 9% | 13% | 6% |
| Technology | 25 | 24% | 20% | 52% | 16% | 8% |
| Investor or partner | 55 | 42% | 18% | 13% | 24% | 11% |
Selected title-classified groups shown: 265 of 467 respondents. The other/unclassified group (195) and smaller groups (7) are omitted. Any mention; bases from 10 to 39 are directional.
Finance appears in 31 percent of common-instrument answers, behind the CEO at 49 percent. Among respondents classified to finance, 67 percent name finance and 27 percent name the CEO. The difference shows how strongly role shapes the reported ownership map; a CFO should record whose view that map represents.
Finance answers compared with other roles
| Respondent seat | Base | Net-new | No clear budget | Software reallocation | Headcount-linked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO or founder | 89 | 39% | 24% | 16% | 30% |
| Finance | 67 | 43% | 25% | 22% | 19% |
| Technology | 13 | 46% | 38% | 8% | 8% |
| Investor or partner | 49 | 43% | 43% | 10% | 12% |
| Other or unclassified | 165 | 39% | 33% | 25% | 16% |
Rows shown cover 383 of 389 respondents; omitted title categories total 6. Classification uses title keywords; the technology row is directional; multi-answer combinations use any mention.
| Respondent seat | Base | ROI | Integration | Security | Data | Talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO or founder | 89 | 55% | 30% | 15% | 16% | 13% |
| Finance | 67 | 48% | 13% | 21% | 28% | 10% |
| Technology | 13 | 54% | 8% | 15% | 23% | 15% |
| Investor or partner | 49 | 51% | 18% | 29% | 14% | 4% |
| Other or unclassified | 165 | 56% | 25% | 21% | 21% | 13% |
Rows shown cover 383 of 389 respondents; omitted title categories total 6. Classification uses title keywords; the technology row is directional; multi-answer combinations use any mention.
| Respondent seat | Base | Under 6m | 6–12m | 12–24m | Not sure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO or founder | 89 | 67% | 26% | 3% | 4% |
| Finance | 67 | 45% | 36% | 12% | 10% |
| Technology | 13 | 54% | 15% | 8% | 31% |
| Investor or partner | 49 | 37% | 29% | 12% | 22% |
| Other or unclassified | 165 | 55% | 21% | 12% | 16% |
Rows shown cover 383 of 389 respondents; omitted title categories total 6. Classification uses title keywords; the technology row is directional; multi-answer combinations use any mention.
Finance respondents report net-new funding at 43 percent and no clear budget at 25 percent. Forty-eight percent name ROI as a blocker; 45 percent expect payback in under six months and 36 percent in six to twelve months. The cross-seat comparison shows where finance is likely to encounter different assumptions before approval.
Four funding routes
Budget source
| Answer | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Net-new money | 159 | 41% |
| No clear AI budget | 120 | 31% |
| Other software reallocation | 77 | 20% |
| Would-be headcount money | 73 | 19% |
Base 389; any mention, so shares can sum above 100 percent.
Each route creates a different audit trail. Net-new money needs an investment case. Software reallocation needs evidence of the contract or capability displaced. Headcount-linked money needs a distinction between cash savings, avoided hiring and redeployed capacity. “No clear budget” needs an owner before the workflow becomes permanent.
The proof window
Spending blockers
| Answer | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Proving ROI | 211 | 54% |
| Integration with existing systems | 89 | 23% |
| Security and compliance | 80 | 21% |
| Data readiness | 79 | 20% |
| Talent | 45 | 12% |
Base 389; any mention, so shares can sum above 100 percent.
Payback expectation
| Answer | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 6 months | 208 | 53% |
| 6 to 12 months | 101 | 26% |
| 12 to 24 months | 37 | 10% |
| Not sure | 53 | 14% |
Base 389; any mention, so shares can sum above 100 percent.
In the same 389-response instrument, 54 percent name ROI proof as a blocker and 53 percent expect a result inside six months. Companies therefore face a short window for producing an auditable result.
Cost visibility after approval
Real-time AI operating-cost visibility
| Answer | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Full real-time visibility | 34 | 44% |
| Partial visibility | 30 | 39% |
| No real-time visibility | 13 | 17% |
Base 77.
The cost-visibility question comes from the AI Leaders cohort rather than the finance instrument and should not be merged statistically with the 389-response budget line. It is relevant to the CFO: 43 of 77 respondents report only partial or no real-time visibility. Finance can approve the envelope while remaining unable to allocate the run cost to a workflow.
External context
Deloitte's 2026 CFO Signals identifies AI cost uncertainty and transparency as CFO concerns, while McKinsey's 2026 State of AI finds operating costs already constraining some AI use. A spending plan is incomplete if the company cannot identify where costs land or how return will be measured.
What this means for the CFO
Create an AI cost ledger at workflow level. Each production workflow needs a business owner, model and infrastructure cost, data and integration cost, risk-control cost, and agreed benefit measure. A central AI budget can fund experimentation; it cannot substitute for unit economics.
Questions this report answers
Who signs off on AI purchases?
Finance appears in 31 percent of answers, second to the CEO at 49 percent (base 467, any mention).
Are budgets clear?
No. Thirty-one percent report no clear AI budget (base 389).
What stops additional spend?
Proving ROI, at 54 percent (base 389).
Can finance see AI operating costs?
Forty-four percent report full real-time visibility in the AI Leaders cohort (base 77).
Key citable facts
- Finance appears in 31 percent of AI sign-off answers in Open Future Forum's October 2026 data (base 467, any mention).
- Thirty-one percent report no clear AI budget and 19 percent use money that would have gone to headcount (base 389, any mention).
- Fifty-four percent name proving ROI as a blocker to more AI spending (base 389).
Methodology and honesty notes
The finance base combines different event cohorts answering the same wording. Respondents are deduplicated per question by email. Invited-only rows are excluded. Multi-select answers use any mention, so percentages can sum above 100 percent. The cost-visibility question comes from the AI Leaders cohort and is not treated as a finance-only sample.
Related reading
Citation and editions
Suggested citation: Newlands, M. (2026). CFO AI Leverage Report, Edition 4. Open Future Forum, October 2026. This edition supersedes Edition 3, September 2026.
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