CFOs Are Crashing the AI Buying Party; Six Takeaways From Nvidia Report

Happy AI Agenda Live day! I’m so excited to see many of you at our event later today, where we’ll hear from executives at top AI firms like Anthropic and Google as well as venture capitalists and founders on what research breakthroughs are coming and where to invest.

One topic we’ll be sure to broach is the growing pressure chief financial officers are putting on their colleagues to start showing a return from their AI purchases, founders tell me.

More than 70% of the conversations that Writer, a startup building AI tools for enterprises, has with potential customers involve a CFO, up from less than 5% a year ago, said co-founder Waseem Alshikh. CFOs often are leading those conversations, instead of the chief information or technology officers that often make cloud and software buying decisions. CFO involvement often makes sales harder, since budgets are top of mind for them, executives tell me.

That shift reflects the evolving attitude around AI among businesses. Whereas a year ago or so some businesses were trying out lots of different AI products or making splashy announcements about new Chief AI Officers, now the emphasis is squarely on the bottom line.