How to sell to CFOs at AI & machine learning companies
CFOs in AI & machine learning companies are primarily measured on financial accuracy and cost management. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of the unique financial challenges posed by rapid technological advancements and the need for precise budget allocations. Highlighting insights on optimizing operational costs related to AI projects can prompt engagement.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 561 ai & machine learning company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- budget overruns on ai projects
- inaccurate financial forecasting
- complex regulatory compliance
- high operational costs
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent funding rounds
Research AI & machine learning companies that have recently secured funding. Use sources like Crunchbase or PitchBook to filter for those that raised over $5 million in the last quarter. This indicates a potential need for financial guidance as they scale.
- 02
Analyze their investment in AI projects
Look for companies that have recently launched new AI initiatives or expanded existing ones. Check press releases or news articles to identify projects that may require budget adjustments and present your insights on cost management in your outreach.
- 03
Address compliance and financial reporting needs
Understand the regulatory landscape affecting AI investments. Tailor your outreach to discuss how your expertise can help CFOs navigate compliance while ensuring accurate financial reporting, especially in light of evolving AI regulations.
- 04
Highlight operational cost savings
Craft your message around specific strategies for reducing operational costs in AI implementations. Use case studies or examples that demonstrate how other CFOs have successfully optimized their budgets while investing in AI technologies.
- 05
Propose a data-driven financial review
Suggest a brief call to discuss a data-driven review of their current financial strategies related to AI. Emphasize the potential for insights that could lead to significant cost savings, making it clear that you understand their unique financial landscape.
Can ai & machine learning companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 561 ai & machine learning companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 26.3% of 1–10-person companies against 86.2% of the largest — 60 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Optimizing ai project budgets
- Navigating ai compliance costs
- Strategies for cost savings in ai
Questions
- Why do CFOs in AI companies avoid cold outreach?
- CFOs in AI companies are often inundated with outreach that lacks specificity or relevance to their unique challenges. They prioritize communications that demonstrate a deep understanding of the AI landscape and how financial strategies can be tailored to support innovation without compromising financial stability.
- What financial metrics do CFOs focus on in AI projects?
- CFOs in AI firms closely monitor metrics such as return on investment (ROI) for AI initiatives, cost per acquisition of AI technologies, and overall profitability of AI-driven products. They seek insights that can help optimize these metrics while managing risks associated with rapid technological changes.
- How can I effectively engage a CFO in AI?
- To engage a CFO in AI, focus on presenting data-driven insights that relate directly to their financial goals. Address specific pain points like budget management and compliance challenges, and offer actionable strategies that align with their objectives for growth and innovation.
- What objections do CFOs have about new financial tools?
- CFOs may object to new financial tools due to concerns about integration with existing systems, the learning curve for their teams, and the potential for disruption during implementation. It's crucial to address these objections by highlighting ease of use, integration capabilities, and support during the transition.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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