The conversation explores the delegation of tasks to AI in FinOps and introduces the concept of a trust matrix for AI and FinOps. Frank discusses the criteria for delegating tasks to AI based on verifiability and stakes, and introduces a tool available on finops.frankcontrepois.com for further analysis and adaptation.

Takeaways

• Delegating tasks to AI in FinOps
• Trust matrix for AI and FinOps

Chapters

• 00:00 Delegating Tasks to AI in FinOps
• 01:10 The Trust Matrix for AI and FinOps

From Actor to FinOps Researcher: Insights from 21 Practitioners on the Human Side of FinOps

What makes a great FinOps practitioner?

In the first episode of FinOps After the Low-Hanging Fruits, Frank Contrepois talks to Olivier, a recent University of Manchester graduate. His research focused on the human side of FinOps, interviewing 21 practitioners from Europe, North America, and Asia.

Instead of diving into cloud tech or cost-saving methods, they discuss the people in FinOps. They explore how backgrounds shape decisions, why organisations adopt FinOps differently, and what newcomers can learn from experienced professionals.

Key topics include:

• Why FinOps is a human and behavioural discipline, not just technical.
• Insights from interviews with practitioners across various industries.
• How backgrounds in engineering, finance, leadership, and consulting influence approaches to FinOps.
• The emergence of a second generation of FinOps professionals.
• The challenge of balancing frameworks with the unique ways organisations implement FinOps.
• The role of practitioners as translators between engineering, finance, procurement, and leadership.
• Why building connections between teams is often more important than deep technical expertise.
• How organisations can shift from centralised FinOps teams to a true FinOps culture.
• The significance of incentives, behaviours, and communication over tools and dashboards.
• Mental models that help navigate complexity, including:
  • Context is everything
  • Flip the coin
  • FinOps as translation
  • FinOps as behaviour
• Why top practitioners know when to listen and recognise when someone truly understands.

This episode examines what comes after obvious cloud savings. Success depends more on communication, culture, organisational design, and helping people make better choices.

If you've ever questioned whether FinOps is just about cloud costs or about changing organisational mindsets, you'll find this conversation enlightening.

Guest: Oliver Kennett Host: Frank Contrepois FinOps After the Low-Hanging Fruits is a podcast that delves into the tougher aspects of FinOps: governance, communication, leadership, organisational behaviour, forecasting, negotiation, and the strategic challenges that arise when easy savings are already achieved.

Vibe Coding is upon us, and we need to build some governance to avoid creating thousands of duplicates. 

A useful trick for #finops practitioners wanting to boost their authority

We've all had times when we wished we could act differently. Sometimes, these are habits that keep coming back and can be really annoying.

There’s a simple trick to help you stop these bad behaviors for good. The good news? It’s easy to follow.

Who is happy about AI and who is unhappy about AI. Why?

AI is already impacting the board and C-suite positions.

Click here to view the episode transcript.

When the easy FinOps savings are gone, the next challenge is not another dashboard. It is understanding how decisions really happen.

In this first episode of the series, Frank starts at the very top of the company: the owners, the board, and the auditor. Before we talk about cloud strategy, budgets, engineering, or FinOps policies, we need to understand where power sits and how it flows.

This episode gives practitioners a simple map of corporate power: shareholders delegate authority to the board, the board governs management, and auditors provide independent confidence that the company’s story matches reality.

For FinOps practitioners trying to move beyond rightsizing, reports, and low-hanging fruit, this is the starting point. Advanced FinOps is not only about finding waste. It is about helping organisations make better decisions about technology, money, risk, and value.

Click here to view the episode transcript.

Teaser for a new series of episodes.

When trying to convince, the number of arguments depends on who you target.