​AI as a Force Multiplier: Scaling Lean Finance Teams Without Adding Headcount

​CFO Executive Forum | AI in Finance Panel

​The Challenge

​Venture-backed CFOs are operating in one of the most demanding environments in recent memory. Boards and investors expect rigorous financial discipline, faster closes, real-time scenario modeling, and transaction readiness — all while headcount budgets remain flat or under pressure. For many finance leaders, the ask is simply: do more with less, and do it faster.

​Traditional solutions — adding staff, outsourcing, or deploying legacy ERP tools —are no longer sufficient to meet the pace and complexity that high-growth companies demand.

​The Opportunity

​Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing what a lean finance team can accomplish. From automating routine transactional work to accelerating FP&A cycles, enhancing cash flow forecasting, and flagging anomalies in real time, AI tools are giving finance leaders capabilities that were previously only accessible to large, well-resourced organizations.

​For venture-backed companies specifically, this shift creates a meaningful competitive advantage — the ability to operate with the financial sophistication of a mature enterprise at a fraction of the infrastructure cost.

​What This Panel Will Explore

​This session brings together CFOs who are actively navigating AI adoption within their finance functions — not in theory, but in practice. The conversation will go beyond the hype to examine:

• ​Where AI is delivering real, measurable impact across financial close, FP&A, reporting, and compliance workflows

• ​How finance leaders are managing the human side of AI adoption — team culture, role redefinition, and upskilling

• ​What investors and boards are beginning to expect around AI maturity and finance function efficiency

• ​The governance and data integrity questions that CFOs must address before AI can be trusted at scale

• ​How the CFO role itself is evolving as AI handles more of the tactical work and elevates the function toward strategic partnership

​Why This Matters Now

​AI adoption in finance is no longer a future-state conversation. Tools like generative AI, intelligent automation, and machine learning-powered forecasting are available today and increasingly expected by investors evaluating a company's operational maturity. CFOs who move deliberately and strategically now will be better positioned for their next fundraise, M&A process, or IPO readiness review.

​This panel is designed for finance leaders who want to move from curiosity to conviction — and walk away with practical frameworks and peer insights they can apply immediately.

​Who Should Attend

​CFOs, VPs of Finance, and Heads of Finance at venture-backed companies. The session emphasizes peer-to-peer dialogue and operator-level honesty about what is working and what isn't.

​Why Attend

• ​Hear directly from CFOs putting AI to work in venture-backed finance teams

• ​Take away practical approaches you can apply this quarter

• ​Build relationships with a small group of senior finance peers

​The Room

​Moderator: Christina Bui, Vice President, Robert Half | Protiviti

​Panelists:
- Chithra Rajagopalan, Head of Finance, Obsidian Security
- Hull Xu, CFO, Centific
- Jeff Epstein, Operating Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners

​In partnership with:

• ​Christina Bui, Robert Half | Protiviti

• ​Louis Lehot, Foley & Lardner LLP

• ​Ellie Yashiro, Silicon Valley Bank

• ​Janice Berthold, Heffernan Insurance Brokers

​Host

​This event is hosted as part of 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.