Ali Esfahani, CFO of Unconventional AI, on why every CFO needs a software engineer, why seat-based pricing is dead, and how CFOs can build with AI.
In this episode of The AI CFO (formerly Funded), Alex talks with Ali Esfahani, the [UN]CFO of Unconventional AI, about running finance, legal, and investor relations at a company rebuilding the computer from the ground up, and how he's building his own tools with AI.
📍 San Francisco Bay Area | 💰 Raised: $475M seed round (announced December 2025) | 🎯 Stage: Seed | 🏢 Focus: AI chips and infrastructure
🎧 Also available on: Apple Podcasts
Ali says yes. Not to replace people, but to automate more and make the team more efficient. He also expects demand for engineers to grow, as every team builds tools around how it actually works.
"I think every CFO should have a software engineer on their team... It's because we're trying to make humans more efficient." - Ali Esfahani
Ali argues per-seat pricing rations the data software depends on, and that pricing should move to usage or actions. A fixed seat price spread across a capped number of actions makes the real cost per action "astronomical."
"I think this seat-based model for software is dead." - Ali Esfahani
Ali treats AI like a team of analysts that flags issues, while a human signs off. His rule is that IP and PII stay out of systems outside the company's control.
"Ultimately, I'm the person who's responsible for signing off on all this stuff." - Ali Esfahani
Start with a simple dashboard of your own data, and leave enterprise-grade applications to engineers.
"Build a simple webpage that just pulls some data, does formatting or low-level analytics, and displays it the way you want." - Ali Esfahani
Unconventional AI - Learn more about the company.
The Making of the [un]CFO - Ali's blog post on the title and what he's built.
Long Live Software Engineers! So Long, Software Seats. - Ali's LinkedIn article on seat-based pricing.
Alex also writes The AI CFO newsletter every two weeks. Subscribe here.
Please provide a few details about yourself before accessing this resource
Check out these additional resources for actionable tips and insights to guide you through your startup journey.
Practical, tested playbooks for navigating startup finance in the age of AI, from the frontlines.
Delivered straight to your inbox, every two weeks.
✍️ Written by Alex Wittenberg, CEO of airCFO
Partner with us to simplify your back-office and focus on what matters most: growing your business.
