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AI As A Force Multiplier - Scaling Lean Finance Teams Without Adding Headcount
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| With Chithra Rajagopalan (Head of Finance, Obsidian Security), Hull Xu (CFO, Centific), Jeff Epstein (Bessemer VC), Christina Bui (Robert Half), Louis Lehot (Foley & Lardner), Ellie Yashiro (SVB), Janice Berthold (Heffernan). |
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Jul 22 (Wed) @ 05:30 PM
FREE
| | Venue, To Be Announced, Palo Alto
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AII 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 & investors expect rigorous financial discipline, faster closes, real-time scenario modeling, & transaction readiness - all while headcount budgets remain flat or under pressure. For many finance leaders, the ask is simply: do more with less, & do it faster.
Traditional solutions - adding staff, outsourcing, or deploying legacy ERP tools -are no longer sufficient to meet the pace & 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, & 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, & compliance workflows
How finance leaders are managing the human side of AI adoption - team culture, role redefinition, & upskilling
What investors & boards are beginning to expect around AI maturity & finance function efficiency
The governance & 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 & 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, & machine learning-powered forecasting are available today & increasingly expected by investors evaluating a company's operational maturity. CFOs who move deliberately & 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 - & walk away with practical frameworks & peer insights they can apply immediately.
Who Should Attend
CFOs, VPs of Finance, & Heads of Finance at venture-backed companies. The session emphasizes peer-to-peer dialogue & operator-level honesty about what is working & 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
- To be added later
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, an executive community for the AI era founded by Murray Newlands. Open Future Forum brings together CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, CISOs, founders, investors, & enterprise leaders through Forum Select, Forum Events, private executive dinners, & role-based communities including the CFO Executive Forum, CEO Executive Forum, CMO Executive Forum, & CISO Executive Forum. Learn more about Murray Newlands on the About Murray page. Murray Newlands is also Partner at IA Seed Ventures (IASV). Open Future Forum & IA Seed Ventures are separate organizations.
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