FinOps in Action
Welcome to FinOps in Action! Join host, Alon Arvatz, Each week, as he sits down with FinOps experts to explore the toughest challenges between FinOps and Engineering. This show is brought to you by PointFive - empowering teams to optimize cloud costs with deep detection and remediation tools that drive action.
Episodes
What does good FinOps look like inside a large engineering organization?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Idaliz Baez, Founder and Director of RealOps, who has one of the most fascinating journeys into FinOps — from contamination engineer at NASA to FinOps instructor and leader.
Idaliz has trained more than 200 FinOps practitioners worldwide and brings a unique perspective on how education and awareness c...
What does good FinOps look like inside a large engineering organization?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Tom Cross, FinOps Lead at Aer Lingus and a member of the FinOps Foundation Technical Advisory Council, to talk about building FinOps culture, engaging engineers, and shaping the global FinOps framework.
Tom shared how he transitioned from software engineering to FinOps leadership, why optimization bec...
Should you build your own FinOps tool or buy one?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Peter Crenshaw, Manager of FinOps and M&A at IEM, to unpack one of the biggest questions I hear from FinOps leaders everywhere: when does it make sense to build, and when should you buy?
Peter shared his journey leading FinOps at UKG and IEM, including what he learned from building an in-house FinOps platform and wh...
Is hosting a podcast really just about questions and prep work or is it more about building a community, elevating leaders, and learning to listen?
In this special bonus live stream for National Podcast Day, I, Alon Arvatz, stepped into the guest seat to be interviewed by Casey Cheshire. After nearly 50 hours of conversations, I shared my journey and my biggest takeaways from interviewing top FinOps leaders this year.
We...
What does FinOps look like in highly regulated industries — and why is speed so critical when managing commitments and anomalies?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Gordon Douglass, VP of Cloud Assets & Risk Management at SAP NS2, to talk about the real-world challenges of running FinOps in government and enterprise-scale environments.
Gordon shares why commitments are one of the scariest parts of FinOp...
Is FinOps only about cloud usage optimization or does it go deeper?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I was joined by Tim Nolan, Senior FinOps Engineer at DataRobot, who saved over $1M in AWS costs in just four months and achieved 99% tagging compliance.
Tim shares his journey from engineering to IT finance to FinOps, and why negotiation skills, procurement partnerships, and tagging discipline are just as critical to FinO...
Is cloud always the right move? And what happens when governance is missing?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Peter Brauer, Senior Enterprise Architect at T-Mobile, who has led FinOps governance frameworks responsible for over $150M in savings.
Peter shares lessons from his transition from TBM (Technology Business Management) to FinOps, and why shadow IT has become one of the most overlooked yet critical ...
How do you build a FinOps practice that actually engages engineers, delivers business value, and grows with the help of the community?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Swapna Samuel, Head of FinOps and Clarity Business Management at BMO and FinOps Foundation Ambassador, to explore how culture, collaboration, and community have been key drivers in her FinOps journey.
Swapna shares how joining the FinOps Fo...
Is FinOps really just about dashboards and tools, or is it more about people, culture, and governance?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Ben de Mora, former FinOps Lead at GitLab, to explore how FinOps needs to evolve beyond tooling into governance, collaboration, and product management thinking.
Ben shares his unique journey from security and engineering into FinOps, and explains why champions programs, f...
Where can a FinOps career take you? And how do the roles differ between small companies, global enterprises, and vendors?
In this special episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Taylor Houck, FinOps Specialist and co-creator of the Cloud Efficiency Hub at PointFive, to trace his career journey across the FinOps landscape: starting as a practitioner at a mid-sized company, scaling cost optimization at NBCUniversal, and ...
How do leading global companies engage engineers in FinOps and build a sustainable culture of cloud efficiency?
In this special compilation episode of FinOps in Action, we bring together insights from FinOps leaders at Choice Hotels International, Sysco, Under Armour, and Carlsberg Group.
Featuring:
- Mike Routier - Choice Hotels International
- Sonal Gupta - Carlsberg Group
- Amy Ashby - Under Armour
- Prasshant Sharma & Polly ...
How do you build a FinOps practice that balances cloud cost optimization, sustainability, and deep cross-functional engagement?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I am joined by TJ Johnson, Lead Architect for Platform Economics at MGM Resorts International. With over 25 years in IT and 15 years focused on public cloud and optimization, TJ shares a refreshing look at what really drives impact in FinOps—from relatio...
How do you scale FinOps in a way that actually engages engineers, reduces waste, and drives cloud efficiency without sacrificing velocity?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Sridhar Ayala, Director of FinOps at Adobe, to explore how Adobe approaches FinOps at scale—shifting the focus from just cost savings to enabling engineering efficiency, reducing waste, and expanding margin.
Sridhar shares Adobe...
FinOps isn’t just about tools—it’s about culture, structure, and long-term trust.
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Matan Ben-Ishay, FP&A, Engineering at Credit Karma, to explore what it really takes to build a cost-aware engineering culture and scale FinOps sustainably across an organization.
Matan shares his approach to balancing developer velocity with cloud governance, managing GCP commitme...
FinOps isn’t just about saving money — it’s about managing financial risk.
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I’m joined by Victoria Levy, FinOps Engineering Lead at Alteryx, to explore how FinOps teams can learn from security, prioritize cost optimization alongside engineering, and get serious about forecasting cloud and SaaS spend.
Victoria shares her journey from physics to FinOps, lessons learned working with e...
How can strong tagging practices make or break your FinOps strategy?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Sherri Wooldridge, Manager of Cloud FinOps at Carnival Cruise Lines and former FinOps lead at 3M, to explore the foundational role of data classification and tagging in cloud cost management. Sherri shares early lessons from her FinOps career, explains why weak tagging can derail M&A activity, and st...
How can enterprise FinOps drive change across cloud, culture, and leadership?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Scott Linn, Cloud and Services Optimization Manager at Chevron, who shares how he helped launch the company’s first FinOps function after decades in cloud operations. Scott reflects on the mindset shifts, executive support, and automation strategies that helped Chevron turn FinOps into a company...
How is FinOps evolving to meet the rising challenge of data spend management?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Alex Landis, Senior Finance Manager, and Simar Aurora, Value Engineer at Snowflake, to explore how FinOps is being applied to the fast-growing world of data usage and cost optimization. Together, they share how Snowflake’s internal FinOps practices—like “Snowflake on Snowflake”—help improve visi...
How can FinOps culture shift cost from a finance problem to an engineering mindset?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Amy Ashby, FinOps and Software Asset Management Lead at Under Armour, who shares her journey from IT data centers to cloud infrastructure and FinOps leadership. Amy unpacks the realities of building a FinOps practice from scratch—and why presenting data alone isn’t enough to inspire change...
How can automation and engineering trust transform FinOps success?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, I’m joined by Diana Lezcano, Former Head of FinOps Engineering at Digital.ai and a professional dog trainer, who shares her unique journey into cloud cost management and what it takes to scale FinOps in a dynamic, engineering-led environment.
Together, we dive into key topics, including:
- Why eliminating spreadsh...
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