Inside The CFO Forum 2026: Unveiling The Tech CFO Survey with Founders Forum Group
On 6 October 2026, some of Europe's leading tech finance leaders gathered for The CFO Forum, hosted by Founders Forum Group. CFOs from startups, scale-ups and some of the region's best-known fintech, AI and SaaS businesses filled the room. They came to compare notes on the questions that matter most right now: growth, AI, talent and the future of their role.
It was also the moment we had been building towards for months. Harmonic Founder and CEO Charlie Walker took the stage to unveil The Tech CFO Survey 2026, our third annual report produced in partnership with Founders Forum Group, and to share what 216 CFOs and finance leaders, surveyed between August and September 2026, had told us.
For many in the room, the data reflected their own year back at them. Seeing how other CFOs were positioning AI within their teams was both reassuring and eye-opening. Being able to offer these insights to our network is something we look forward to annually.
The big message: resilient growth
The theme running through the whole report is resilient growth. 85% of CFOs expect revenue growth this year, but this is not growth at any cost. The finance leaders in our survey want ambition with something solid underneath it.
In his foreword, Charlie points to how much the European tech scene has changed since our first survey. World-class CFOs are now raising major rounds at home, and the UK is attracting senior finance talent from the US. The CFO sits at the heart of that transformation.
What the room heard
The report covers everything from AI adoption to CFO pay and equity. Here are some of the findings that stood out.
Agentic AI has arrived
Generative AI is still the technology most shaping financial leadership, named by 44% of CFOs. But agentic AI is now second, cited by more than one in five. That puts AI agents ahead of natural language processing, robotic process automation and predictive analytics combined.
"On the growth side we are using AI to build product faster, are experimenting with MCP connectors and also Forward Deployed Engineers." Hugo Grimston, Xeneta
Cybersecurity is the one budget CFOs are clearly growing
45% of CFOs are increasing cybersecurity spend over the next six months, and almost nobody is cutting it. That is the widest gap of any budget line. The cuts are familiar: a quarter are trimming business travel and a fifth are reducing recruitment spend.
Most companies can't see what AI really costs
Only three in ten CFOs track AI usage costs, such as tokens, API calls and compute, as their own budget line. Close to a third have no formal way of budgeting for them at all. As more AI tools move to usage-based pricing, that blind spot could get expensive.
"At the moment AI is unstable – cost forecasting is hard, and the error rates are too high. We're waiting." Simon Southwood, Boscay
AI is quietly reshaping finance teams
A third of CFOs say AI has already reduced the size of their finance team, mostly by 10% or less. Among those changing their team design, the most common moves are avoiding planned hires (32%) and redeploying people to higher-value work (29%).
"We are using AI to take away the mundane, and make our rockstar people focus on building the rockets and not keeping the lights on!" Yousef Al Qatami, 1GLOBAL
Growth is coming from product and new markets
Asked where growth will come from, CFOs point first to diversifying their product and service offering, just ahead of international expansion and organic growth. Fundraising is a priority for almost a third of early-stage CFOs, while M&A matters far more at growth stage.
The senior finance job market favours employers
35% of CFOs describe the market for CFO, Finance Director and VP Finance roles as an employer's market with a shortage of opportunities. Only 20% see it as candidate-driven. Confidence in the UK economy is flat at 12%, though negative views have eased from 53% to 43%. Inflation and cost pressures (61%) and global economic volatility (57%) weigh most on CFOs' outlook.
Where CFOs are hiring, they want analysts
FP&A and commercial finance roles top hiring plans for the next 12 months at 28%, well ahead of financial controllers at 14% and interim contractors at 13%. Systems accountant and FinOps roles are rising too, named by 12%.
What it means for you
- For CFOs: use the salary, bonus and equity data to benchmark your package against peers at your stage. If you hold no equity, you are not alone, but it is worth raising.
- For founders and CEOs: your next CFO hire is a strategic one. Expect them to own forecasting, AI adoption, and areas like legal and risk, and plan their reward package to match.
- For investors: strong finance leadership is what makes portfolio growth plans credible. The data shows where CFO reward is falling behind the responsibility the role now carries.
As a specialist finance and executive recruitment partner to many of Europe's fastest-growing tech businesses, Harmonic sees these shifts every day. This report puts data behind them.
Frequently asked questions
What is The Tech CFO Survey 2026? It is an annual report by Harmonic and Founders Forum Group on European tech CFOs. It covers growth priorities, AI budgets, salaries, bonuses, equity and hiring plans, based on responses from 216 CFOs and finance leaders.
When and where was The Tech CFO Survey 2026 launched? It was unveiled on 6 October 2026 at The CFO Forum, hosted by Founders Forum Group, where Harmonic Founder and CEO Charlie Walker presented the findings.
What is agentic AI's role in finance? Agentic AI is now the second most influential AI technology for CFOs, named by more than one in five, behind generative AI at 44%.
Where are tech CFOs increasing spend? Cybersecurity is the clearest area of growth, with 45% of CFOs increasing spend and almost none cutting it.
Which finance roles are tech companies hiring? FP&A and commercial finance roles are the top hiring priority, named by 28% of CFOs, followed by financial controllers at 14%.
Get the full report
The full Tech CFO Survey 2026 includes stage-by-stage salary and equity benchmarks, AI budgeting data, and insights from CFOs at businesses including Zilch, Xeneta, Legl and Afin Bank. Download the report.
A huge thank you to every CFO and finance leader who shared their time and data, and to Founders Forum Group for partnering with us again.
About the author
Charlie Walker is the Founder and CEO of Harmonic, a B Corp recruitment and executive search firm specialising in CFO, finance and leadership hiring for high-growth tech businesses. With 19 years of search experience across CFO, COO and CEO roles, he has built Harmonic into a Sunday Times and Virgin Fast Track business. Charlie sits on Tech Nation's advisory board, has hosted the Sifted Summit CFO Panel and has judged the British Business Awards.
About Harmonic
Harmonic is a B Corp recruitment and executive search firm. We partner with fast-growing startups, scale-ups and entrepreneur-led businesses to hire CFOs, Finance Directors, FP&A teams and wider finance, executive, operations and people talent. Looking to hire your next CFO or build out your finance team? Get in touch with Harmonic.
About Founders Forum Group
Founders Forum Group brings together founders and leaders at every stage of growth. Through The CFO Forum and Tech Nation's Future Fifty and Upscale programmes, it connects finance leaders to share insight and shape the future of tech.