CFO AI Leverage Report: AI Budgets, ROI and Finance Sign-Off

Event Title
Enterprise AI is moving from experimentation into the finance office.
Open Future Forum has released the CFO AI Leverage Report, Edition 1, introducing the Enterprise AI Buying & Budget Index and the CFO AI Leverage Index.

The report examines how CFOs and senior finance leaders are evaluating AI budgets, buying authority, ROI, productivity, governance and the question now sitting at the center of enterprise AI adoption:

Can AI help companies grow output without growing headcount at the same rate?

Read the report here:
https://openfutureforum.com/research/cfo-ai-leverage-report
This private executive discussion will focus on what the report means for CFOs, founders, finance leaders, AI operators, investors and enterprise executives. We will look at how AI buying is shifting, who signs off on AI purchases, what finance teams are measuring, and why AI ROI is becoming a CFO-level issue rather than only a technology issue.
According to the report, enterprise generative AI spending reached approximately $37 billion in 2025, more than tripling from the prior year. At the same time, the share of AI spend funded from experimental innovation budgets fell from 25% to 7% in one year, showing that AI is moving into core operating budgets.
The report also draws on Open Future Forum’s 2026 executive community activity, including 200+ executive registrations across 20+ events, with 60+ finance leaders and operators, 50+ security leaders, and 100+ founders. In an early directional read, 3 in 5 finance leaders asked said the CFO or finance organization signs off on AI purchases, rather than the CEO or IT.

This discussion is connected to the CFO Executive Forum, Open Future Forum’s invitation-only community for CFOs and senior finance leaders of high-growth companies. The CFO Executive Forum hosts small, off-the-record gatherings across Silicon Valley focused on AI, capital allocation, governance, growth, risk, productivity and the changing role of the finance function.

Learn more about the CFO Executive Forum here:
https://openfutureforum.com/cfo-executive-forum

What we will discuss
How CFOs are evaluating enterprise AI spend
Why AI budgets are moving from innovation budgets into operating budgets
Who signs off on enterprise AI purchases
How finance leaders are measuring AI ROI
Whether AI can create real headcount leverage
Where AI improves productivity, margin and capital efficiency
Why founders selling AI tools need to understand the finance buyer
How boards and investors are starting to ask harder questions about AI value

Who should attend
This event is designed for CFOs, VPs of Finance, controllers, finance operators, CEOs, founders, investors, enterprise AI leaders and executives responsible for AI budgets, AI transformation, productivity, governance or capital allocation.

Why this matters
The first phase of enterprise AI was about adoption. The next phase is about leverage.
Executives are no longer asking only whether AI works. They are asking whether AI creates measurable business value, improves productivity, reduces operating drag, supports growth and helps teams do more without simply adding more tools, more vendors and more headcount.
That is a finance question.
The CFO AI Leverage Report and Enterprise AI Buying & Budget Index are designed to track that shift over time.

Key links
CFO AI Leverage Report:
https://openfutureforum.com/research/cfo-ai-leverage-report
CFO Executive Forum:
https://openfutureforum.com/cfo-executive-forum
Open Future Forum:
https://openfutureforum.com