The honest test of a community is not what the host says about it. It is what the people in the room say after they leave.
I keep a record of those comments. Below are recent reflections from executives, partners, and press who have been part of Open Future Forum events. Each one links back to the original source so you can read it in full.
Armine Abramyan, BMO, on a private CEO dinner
After a recent private CEO dinner at Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills, Armine Abramyan, VP, Emerging Middle Market, Commercial Banking at BMO, summed up the evening in one line:
“Quality conversations happen in intimate settings.”
The dinner brought together CEOs who have each raised more than $10 million to talk about growth, fundraising, hiring, and what comes next as they scale. No stage. No pitching. Just a curated room of founders and executives having direct conversations.
Manjush Menon, Visa, on the Enterprise AI and Agentic Security Dinner
At the Enterprise AI and Agentic Security Dinner in Los Altos Hills, Manjush Menon, Global Product and Standards Leader at Visa, captured where many enterprises are right now with AI adoption.
“AI governance and structure aren’t afterthoughts — they’re the foundation.”
He went on to describe what sustainable AI adoption looks like in practice: clear use cases, defined workflows, scoped permissions, humans in the loop where it matters, and honest evaluation of what models produce.
The dinner also included Karthik Suresh of ZoomInfo and Paulina Xu of Agentic Fabriq, with a room of AI builders, security leaders, and enterprise executives discussing agentic AI, governance, permissions, and the next phase of enterprise adoption.
Numix on Swing for CMOs
After Swing for CMOs, a gathering of marketing leaders hosted by Open Future Forum and The CMO Community at Topgolf in San Jose, Numix shared a reflection on the value of getting leaders together outside a formal meeting room.
“Honest conversations”
That phrase stood out because it reflects the point of the format. The best executive conversations often happen when the room is smaller, the agenda is lighter, and the people attending are actually facing similar decisions.
TechBullion on executive AI communities
TechBullion featured Open Future Forum in its article, The Most Important Executive AI Communities in 2026.
The article made a point that closely matches why these dinners exist:
“The value is not the keynote on stage. It is the conversation at the table.”
That is the difference between a conference and an executive community. Conferences can be useful, but the real value for CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, CTOs, CISOs, investors, and operators often comes from trusted peer conversations in the room.
A pattern worth naming
Four different voices. A banker, an enterprise product leader, a marketing team, and a technology publication.
None of them are focused only on the speakers or the venue. They are talking about the conversation, the candor, and the room. That is the whole design.
Open Future Forum is a Silicon Valley executive community connecting founders, operators, investors, and enterprise leaders around AI, technology, finance, growth, and the future of executive leadership. Founded in 2019, Open Future Forum has run more than 400 events since 2021, built around small, curated, off-the-record gatherings for C-suite executives and senior leaders.
If you would like to be considered for a future dinner, or if your company is interested in sponsoring one, you can find me on LinkedIn.
Murray Newlands is a Partner at IA Seed Ventures and the founder of Open Future Forum.
