Definition. Founders enter through three doorways almost equally while operators concentrate the signature on the CEO. September 2026: 39 / 36 / 28 versus 47.
The figure, both sides
Where founders say the buying decision is made inside their customers, against where operators say the signature sits.
| Read from | Answer | Share | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founders, inside their customers | Business-unit leader | 39 percent | 148 |
| Founders, inside their customers | CIO or CTO | 36 percent | 148 |
| Founders, inside their customers | CFO or finance | 28 percent | 148 |
| Founders, inside their customers | Individual users | 11 percent | 148 |
| Operators, about themselves | The CEO signs | 47 percent | 290 |
Source: Open Future Forum, Enterprise AI Buying and Budget Index, September 2026 editions.
The founder question offered no CEO option, which is the point: the seat operators name most often is not a doorway sellers report entering.
What changed since Edition 2
The doorway shares are unchanged on the cumulative base of 148; no pricing or buyer question ran on the August form. Inside Edition 2 the cohorts moved toward finance, with the late-July cohort naming the CFO at 42 percent against 21 in the early cohort, directional. That movement stands as the last measured.
How to read it
Sellers enter where the work is and the signature sits above it. A founder who runs a business-unit pilot to a successful conclusion has not reached the person who signs, and the gap between those two seats is where AI deals stall.
The split also shows up in price. Founders who sell to the CIO or CTO price by outcome at 38 percent; founders who sell to the CFO do so at 27, on bases of 53 and 41, both directional. The doorway a company enters shapes the contract it writes.
How it is measured. From the instrument questions in the application flow for Open Future Forum events, cut by the respondent’s seat from self-reported title. Bases are unique people per instrument; bases under 40 are directional. Full method: Executive AI Leverage Report, September 2026, Methodology and honesty notes.
Tracked figures. See the Trend by edition table in the current edition and the Executive AI Statistics page. Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21576019.
Why it matters. It is the distance a go-to-market motion has to cover, and the most useful single thing this data can tell a founder selling into an enterprise. The series reports the current figure, the prior figure, and the change each edition.
Where it appears
Read in full in the YC Founder AI Report, with the operator side of the split in the Executive AI Leverage Report.
Cite as. Newlands, M. (2026). The Seat Split. Open Future Forum, Enterprise AI Buying and Budget Index. openfutureforum.com/research/definitions/seat-split
About Open Future Forum
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.
Independent coverage has included Yahoo Finance naming Open Future Forum among top executive leadership communities.
About Murray Newlands
Murray Newlands is the founder of Open Future Forum and the host of its executive dinner series and research program. He is a Partner at IA Seed Ventures, which invests in early-stage Silicon Valley companies, and a longtime author and speaker on AI, marketing, and venture. He writes on AI, venture, and enterprise strategy at murraynewlands.substack.com. More at openfutureforum.com/about and murraynewlands.com.
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