Why do cloud costs stay high even after you build all the right dashboards?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Cristian Magherusan-Stanciu, Founder and Cloud Optimization Specialist at Leaner Cloud. With over 20 years in systems engineering and a background at Nokia, HERE Technologies, and AWS, Cristian built AutoSpotting, an open source tool that has helped more than 10,000 customers save money on EC2.

Cristian shared his hard-won framework for turning cloud cost insights into real savings, why automation alone will never be enough, and how AI has multiplied his output as a solo operator by an order of magnitude.

We also covered the hidden business context that can turn a routine optimization into a $30K/month win, and why cost avoidance is just as important as cost reduction when your cloud bill keeps growing.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Dashboards are only half the story and prioritize action over visibility. The biggest gains come to teams that actually implement recommendations, not just track them.
• Right size incrementally, not aggressively. Cutting a resource by 8x in one step is risky instead halve it, observe, and iterate to avoid introducing performance problems.
• Match your optimization approach to the application’s needs. Latency sensitive workloads, HA setups, and DR resources may appear wasteful but serve critical purposes and always bring engineering context into the conversation.
• Look beyond the metric to find the real opportunity. A $30K/month Aurora IO bill pointed to a forgotten database no one needed anymore and the fix wasn’t optimization, it was deletion.
• Track cost avoidance, not just savings. In high-growth environments, a flat or rising bill can still represent millions saved and measure what you would have paid without the work.
• AI has changed the game for solo practitioners. Cristian built in weeks what previously took a year or two, enabling him to ship a SaaS product and 30+ optimization tools as a one-person shop.

Chapters:

00:00 - Dashboards Don't Save Money

00:19 - Show And Guest Intro

01:47 - Take Action First

04:00 - From Level Zero To Savings

06:08 - Prioritize Engineer Time

07:35 - Automation Without Breaking Things

10:07 - Working With DevOps And Devs

12:05 - When Engineers Push Back

14:17 - Cost Vs Risk And Context

16:09 - Big Wins That Repeat

20:00 - Common Waste Patterns

21:17 - The 30K Database Shutdown

24:19 - Proving Value Amid Growth

31:44 - AI Boosting FinOps Output

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• "In just a few weeks with AI, I built what previously would have taken me a year or two. It's at least an order of magnitude more output per unit of time." - Cristian Magherusan-Stanciu

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristimagherusan/
• Website: https://leanercloud.com/
• Website: https://autospotting.io/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency

Why do so many FinOps practitioners miss the biggest savings opportunities, and what does getting technical have to do with it?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Nick Sudarikov, Finance Director of Technology Operations at InvestCloud, to break down how a background in finance and capital markets can actually make you a sharper, more effective FinOps practitioner.

Nick shares how he went from investment banker to hands on FinOps engineer, built a local AI powered stack to query billing data in plain English, and uncovered years of forgotten cloud spend hiding in plain sight.

We also cover why most cost tools will never catch your biggest waste, how to map cloud spend to real business value, and what it actually takes to have meaningful conversations with engineering teams.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why FinOps practitioners should set up their own cloud accounts and get hands-on experience with the technology
• How understanding engineering workflows changes the conversation with tech teams
• The hidden cost problem that anomaly detection tools will never catch
• How Nick uses DuckDB, Parquet files, and AI to query billing data in plain English
• Why AI is set to boost FinOps productivity by a factor of 10 and which tools risk losing market share if they don't adapt
• The importance of mapping cloud spend to business value before making any optimization recommendations

Chapters:

00:00 - Cost Tool Reality Check

00:17 - Show Intro and Guest

01:36 - Why FinOps Needs Hands On

03:28 - Automation and AI Effort

04:23 - From Finance to Tech

06:57 - Early Cloud and Cost Lessons

10:58 - Startups vs Enterprise Scale

12:04 - Legacy Workloads and Risk

14:32 - Value Chain Before Optimizing

17:30 - Finding Hidden Waste Patterns

19:48 - Local AI for Billing Data

26:30 - Future AI and Closing

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• "If you haven't started a Docker container ever in your life, probably you're missing out on a lot of things in FinOps." - Nick Sudarikov

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikolaysudarikov/
• Website: https://investcloud.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency

Why are your cloud costs so high and what actually fixes them?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Jason Ward, Lead FinOps Practitioner at C.H. Robinson, to break down how to take control of cloud spend without slowing down engineering.

Jason shares how he went from mechanic to FinOps leader, built a FinOps function from scratch, and uncovered massive savings, including a 90% cost reduction from a single optimization.

We also cover how to work with engineers (not against them), why most cost recommendations fail, and what it really takes to build a sustainable FinOps practice.

Here’s what we talked about:

• How to cut cloud costs without impacting performance
• Why data, not recommendations should drive decisions
• How to get engineers to actually buy into FinOps
• The importance of tagging and cost visibility early on
• When NOT to optimize and why some “waste” is intentional
• How AI is changing cloud spend and what to watch out for

Chapters:

00:00 - Why Engineers Ignore Small Savings

01:45 - From Mechanic to Cloud Engineer

03:48 - Discovering Cloud Cost Impact

04:48 - Starting FinOps at CH Robinson

06:17 - Early Wins VM Right Sizing

07:19 - Handling Engineer Pushback

09:51 - Tooling Shift to Datadog

11:12 - AKS Tuning 90 Percent Savings

13:15 - Building a Real FinOps Program

14:29 - Executive Buy In and Chargeback

17:38 - Kubernetes Scaling and Hybrid Costs

24:31 - AI Spend and Career Wrap Up

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• “Without that executive buy-in… most engineers… don’t care so much about the bottom line.” – Jason Ward

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jward2/
• Website: https://www.chrobinson.com/en-us/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency

What does it really take to turn cloud cost chaos into a sustainable FinOps practice, and why do most organizations get it wrong from the start?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Loic Fournier, Senior Technical Account Manager at AWS and 2025 AWS Technical Field Community Legend. With over 25 years in technology, from mainframes to modern cloud, Loic has become one of the most recognized voices in AWS cost optimization.

Loic shared how the biggest mistake organizations make is treating FinOps as a one-time project rather than an ongoing practice, and what it actually takes to build governance that sticks across people, processes, and technology.

We also covered the AWS native tools available to every organization for free, the link between cost optimization and sustainability, and how AI workloads are reshaping FinOps priorities heading into 2026.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why FinOps fails when treated as a project
• The three pillars of FinOps governance
• How to get executive buy-in
• AWS free tools you should activate today
• The hidden savings hiding in your EBS volumes
• FinOps as a proxy for sustainability
• Managing AI costs before they spiral

Chapters:

• 00:00 – Introduction & Loic’s Background
• 01:29 – The #1 Mistake in FinOps Adoption: Project vs. Practice
• 03:14 – Building FinOps Governance: People, Process & Technology
• 05:15 – Real-World Story: Going from Zero to 30% Cost Savings in 2 Years
• 08:30 – The CFM Capacity Assessment & Measuring FinOps Maturity
• 10:33 – What Separates High-Scoring vs. Low-Scoring FinOps Organizations
• 13:00 – AWS Free Tools: Cost Optimization Hub & Compute Optimizer Explained
• 17:16 – The Efficiency Score: Turning Potential Savings into Real Savings
• 19:38 – The Most Common (and Costly) Cloud Waste: EC2, EBS & Databases
• 25:08 – The Cloud Efficiency Hub & Why FinOps = Sustainability
• 29:35 – AI & FinOps in 2026: Managing Model Costs with Bedrock & Routing
• 37:14 – Life in Geneva, Midnight Climbing & Closing Thoughts

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• “FinOps is a proxy for sustainability. When you help a customer perform better in FinOps, you are also helping save the world a little bit.”- Loic Fournier

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loicfournier/
• Website: https://aws.amazon.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency

Why does cloud cost optimization only start after it’s already too late?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Jai Padmanabhan, who shares why cloud cost is no longer just a finance concern; it’s a core responsibility for engineering teams. Drawing on decades of experience leading platforms in complex and regulated environments, Jai explains how the shift to the cloud fundamentally changed how organizations think about cost, and why treating it as an afterthought leads to reactive, high-pressure optimization later on.

He breaks down how teams can build cost awareness into their day-to-day workflows, from setting budgets and enforcing guardrails to leveraging automation that scales infrastructure up and down based on real demand.

Jai also explores the trade-offs between efficiency and reliability, emphasizing why SLAs should always take priority in production and how over-optimization can introduce unintended consequences. From storage strategies in regulated industries to the hidden complexity of data transfer costs, he shares practical insights on where organizations commonly overspend and how to avoid it.

Here’s what we talked about:

• The dangers of reactive cost optimization after the bill shows up
• Building cost awareness into engineering teams through budgets and guardrails
• How Kubernetes changes the approach to cost optimization
• Storage optimization strategies, especially in regulated industries
• How AI usage is impacting cloud spend (and why it’s still early)
• Why FinOps should be treated as everyone’s responsibility

Chapters:

00:00 - FinOps First Class & Guest Intro

01:14 - Cost Becomes Engineering

06:59 - Kubernetes Autoscaling

10:26 - Risk Versus Savings

12:48 - Dev Prod Mindset

14:36 - Storage In Regulated

18:31 - Big Savings Surprises

22:24 - Day One Playbook

24:40 - AI Spend Management

27:57 - Security And Compliance

31:58 - Final FinOps Advice

37:03 - Connect And Wrap

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• “ Treat cloud costs as if you were paying a bill from your credit card.” - Jai Padmanabhan

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaishankar-padmanabhan-software-executive/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency

If you can’t see where your cloud spend is going, how can you possibly control it?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Stijn Depril, FinOps Architect at Euroclear and Co-Founder of Costra. He shares why cloud visibility is the starting point for any successful FinOps practice. Drawing on decades of experience in infrastructure and cloud architecture, he explains how many organizations rushed into the cloud without fully understanding the financial implications and why FinOps is ultimately about building the right culture, not just cutting costs.

Stijn discusses the importance of governance, leadership buy-in, and engineering collaboration when managing cloud spend. He also explains why engineers hold more influence over cost optimization than many organizations realize, and how FinOps teams can empower them to make smarter decisions without slowing innovation. The conversation explores what it really takes to move from reactive cost management to a proactive, organization-wide mindset around cloud efficiency.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why visibility is the foundation of effective FinOps
• The risks of moving to the cloud without cost awareness
• How governance helps guide engineers toward optimization
• Why FinOps is as much a cultural shift as it is a financial discipline
• The role engineers play in controlling cloud spend
• What leadership support means for a successful FinOps program

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

2:16 Stijn's FinOps Origin Story

4:07 Financial Problem or Engineering Problem?

5:59 Where FinOps Goes Right (and Wrong)

9:05 Should FinOps Be on the Pitch? Crawl, Walk, Run

11:31 What Does a FinOps Architect Actually Do?

16:44 Optimization in Action (The Hackathon Story)

32:17 AI and FinOps: Opportunities & Risks

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• “I don’t need to have all the trophies on my back here. That’s not necessary. I want the organization and the engineers and the architects to do the right job for the organization.” - Stijn Depril

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdepril/
• Costra: https://costra.io/
• Website: https://www.euroclear.com/en.html

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency

How do you move from chasing $15 cloud savings to building a scalable FinOps program that actually drives impact?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Chandan Bukkapatnam, Senior Cloud FinOps Analyst at Procore Technologies, to unpack what it really takes to mature a FinOps practice from tactical cost-cutting to strategic influence.

Chandan shares how he intentionally built his career at the intersection of cloud architecture and finance, why he initially focused too heavily on granular optimizations, and how automation changed everything. He explains why small “one-off” savings often waste engineering time, and how building systems is what truly scales cloud cost optimization.

The conversation also explores one of the most important skills in FinOps: influencing without authority. Chandan breaks down how to build trust with engineers, secure leadership buy-in, and meet finance and engineering teams where they are, using the language that matters to each.

Finally, the episode dives into the future of FinOps in an AI-driven world. From FinOps for AI workloads to AI for FinOps automation, Chandan shares how he sees artificial intelligence amplifying the practitioner’s role.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why focusing on tiny cloud savings can backfire
• How to prioritize high-impact cloud cost optimization
• Building automation workflows that scale
• Gaining leadership buy-in for FinOps initiatives
• FinOps for AI vs. AI for FinOps
• The evolving strategic role of FinOps practitioners

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• “ AI is taking over the world… but context is still number one.” - Chandan Bukkapatnam

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandan426/
• Website: https://www.procore.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency

What if the biggest mistake new FinOps teams make isn’t missing savings, but executing them too soon?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Henrique Amorim, Business Analyst and FinOps Specialist at Crayon. He shares an honest look at what it really takes to build a successful FinOps practice. From resisting the urge to immediately slash costs to navigating engineering relationships and preparing for the AI-driven future of cloud spend, this conversation goes far beyond surface-level optimization tips.

Henrique breaks down why FinOps isn’t about being the “cost police”. It’s about building influence, trust, and a culture of cost awareness across engineering, finance, and leadership. If you’re working in cloud cost optimization, FinOps, or AI cost management, this episode will challenge how you think about leverage, execution, and long-term impact.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why you should treat early cloud savings as strategic leverage
• The difference between theoretical savings and truly actionable optimizations
• How AI is reshaping the FinOps function
• The importance of building dashboards, processes, and visibility before scaling savings
• Why some “cost inefficiencies” are actually architectural features
• The role of community in accelerating your FinOps maturity
• Managing up: how to communicate FinOps impact to executives

🎧 Subscribe for more FinOps leadership conversations → https://www.finopsinaction.com/

Quote of the Show:

• “Identify those savings and keep them as an ace up your sleeve while using that as leverage to get your roots in the system.” - Henrique Amorim

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henriqueamorim/
• Website: https://www.crayon.com/us/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency