FinOps Weekly Podcast

AI token costs are growing by 50% every month, and companies are getting a massive sticker shock. But how do you cut AI waste when the data is hidden on the developer's computer? Watch this FinOps X interview with PointFive CEO Alon to see how they raised $60 million to solve the AI cost crisis.

Video Breakdown

0:00 – Raising a $60M Series B and scaling the AI research lab.
3:04 – Why companies are questioning AI ROI.
5:32 – Launching Token Shift: Stopping token waste at the developer endpoint.
8:08 – Deep Waste Detection: Finding the hidden inefficiencies in your cloud.
10:44 – Nubank Case Study: Getting a positive ROI in just 10 days.
12:26 – Why fixing cloud waste faster is more important than the dollar amount.
15:16 – Why AI spend is the #1 problem keeping executives up at night.
18:11 – How prompt compression works to save you money.
21:06 – The hardest choice for a CEO with $60 million in the bank.

About This Video

Are you spending too much money on AI tokens without seeing the return on investment?

In this episode of FinOps Weekly, we sit down with Alon, the CEO of PointFive, live at FinOps X. We talk about their massive $60 million funding round and how they are changing the game for cloud and AI costs.

You will learn about "Token Shift," a brand new tool that sits on the developer's computer to compress prompts and cut AI waste automatically. Alon also shares a powerful story about Nubank. He explains how they used PointFive to cut their EBS volume cleanup time from 200 days to just two weeks, saving 1% of their total cloud spend.

If you want to know how to eliminate deep infrastructure waste and control your exploding AI budget, this video gives you the exact answers.

Links Mentioned:

Learn more about PointFive and Token Shift: https://www.pointfive.co/tokenshift

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Companies are signing million-dollar AI deals without looking at the bill. In this FinOps X San Diego interview, cloud expert Adedeji shares exactly when the AI cost shock will hit and how to protect your business. Watch to see why the future of cloud engineering is changing fast.

Timestamps
0:00 Live from FinOps X in San Diego
1:45 Building the FinOps movement across Africa
4:05 The real ROI of million-dollar AI deals
6:32 How to use AI agents to automate your cloud savings
8:41 What are the hidden cost drivers in 2026?
9:51From DevOps engineer to FinOps leader: Adi's story
14:32 Creating a new playbook for cloud careers

More about FinOps Weekly

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20% off on FinOps Certifications. Use code: FINOPSWEEKLY_20 at https://www.finops.org/training-certi...
FinOps Weekly Courses: https://learn.finopsweekly.com
Collaborations: https://cal.com/smartclouds/finops-we...

Are you rushing to make your company "AI native" without checking the infrastructure costs? You are not alone.

In this episode of FinOps Weekly, we sit down with Adedeji, a community leader driving cloud cost awareness across Africa. We discuss the massive shifts happening at FinOps X San Diego, why CIOs will soon be knocking on the doors of cost engineers, and how teams are using AI to write custom scripts that slash cloud waste in minutes.

If you want to move from just looking at past cloud bills to actively controlling your infrastructure spend, this conversation gives you the exact insights you need.

Subscribe to FinOps Weekly for fast, direct cloud management facts every single week!

How to Advance Your Tech Career with the FinOps Lattice: A Framework for Practitioners Who Feel Stuck

Discover the FinOps Lattice, a 5-role career framework designed for FinOps professionals ready to level up. From end-user practitioner to builder, cloud provider, consultant, and community anchor — learn how to navigate your next move in the FinOps career path, with real stories and actionable advice from an 8-year FinOps veteran.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro: Hitting a FinOps Career Wall
01:40 - Guest Introduction: Sansana's Background
02:30 - How She Got Into FinOps at VMware
04:20 - Building the Smart Summary Tool
05:40 - Switching from Practitioner to Product Manager
07:50 - What's Next After 4–5 Years in FinOps?
09:50 - Role Change vs. Staying in FinOps
11:00 - Community Involvement & Open Source Contributions
13:00 - The Value of Building Over Certifications
15:00 - Introducing the FinOps Lattice Framework
15:50 - Role 1: End User Practitioner
16:30 - Role 2: Builder (Vendor/Tool)
17:20 - Role 3: Cloud Provider
18:30 - Role 4: Advisor / Consultant / MSP
19:30 - Role 5: Community Anchor
21:00 - How the Lattice Roles Connect
24:30 - Real Career Journey Examples
27:30 - Networking & Personal Connections in FinOps
30:00 - AI's Impact on FinOps Careers
33:00 - Advice for Breaking Into FinOps
36:30 - Wrap-Up & Final Thoughts

FinOps for AI and Data Workloads: Why Dashboards Are No Longer Enough for Cloud Cost Control

Discover how enterprises must evolve their FinOps strategy to manage AI and data workload costs in real time. Industry experts Vijay Prankumar and Kiran Jain (CEO of Finopsly) break down the accountability gap, shadow AI spend, governed automation, and the steps leaders must take to connect cloud and AI costs to real business value.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro & Guest Overview
01:00 - The Strategy Gap in Cloud & AI Spend
02:25 - Budget Accountability & Planning Cycle Challenges
03:20 - Engineering vs Finance in FinOps Structure
04:15 - How AI & Data Workloads Changed FinOps
05:30 - The Monthly Billing Cycle Is No Longer Enough
06:45 - Shadow AI: The New Unmanaged Spend Category
07:45 - Attribution & Tagging AI Costs Across Stacks
08:30 - Where Is FinOps Heading in the Next 12 Months?
09:40 - Shadow AI Spend: A Real Enterprise Problem
11:00 - DBUs, Snowflake Credits & Unified Cost Metrics
12:30 - Bridging Finance & Engineering with a Common Language
13:30 - Real-Life $60K Snowflake Query Gone Wrong
16:00 - The Need for Real-Time Anomaly Detection
18:30 - C-Level ROI Pressure & AI Spend Governance
21:00 - Governance vs Dashboards: A Critical Distinction
23:00 - Value Control as the Next FinOps Frontier
26:00 - What Separates Successful FinOps Organizations
31:30 - Governed Automation in Regulated Industries
35:30 - 3 Actionable Steps for Leaders to Fix FinOps
38:30 - One Key Piece of Advice to Make FinOps Work
41:00 - Final Thoughts & Wrap-Up

Discover the future of cloud cost optimization in this interview with Julia Berger. We explore how to transform the financial management of your cloud infrastructure and the revolution that AI brings to automation in the industry.

Guest: Julia Melanie Becker

Discover the future of cloud cost optimization in this interview with Julia Berger. We explore how to transform the financial management of your cloud infrastructure and the revolution that AI brings to automation in the industry.

Guest: Julia Melanie Becker

00:00 - Intro
03:39 - What drives teams to change cloud spending behavior?
05:11 - How to get teams engaged with FinOps
07:22 - Biggest FinOps implementation challenges
10:55 - Building FinOps champions inside your teams
14:13 - Hidden FinOps insights most teams overlook
15:39 - Key FinOps questions teams should be asking

Avoid the most common FinOps mistakes and accelerate cloud value realization. Victor & Ben discuss on building a practice without community support limits results, how inaccurate data erodes engineering trust, and why manual commitment management directly impacts costs.

Learn how to avoid inaction, reduce unproductive meetings, and leverage automation with reliable data to drive real savings and strategic decision-making.

00:00 Welcome and guest intro
03:35 Start FinOps with community
05:23 Cost of failure insights
09:24 Driving adoption with data
19:04 Common FinOps mistakes
22:51 Reservations and Real Savings
24:45 Beyond Savings to Forecasting
30:00 First Steps for New Teams
34:57 Recognition and Internal Marketing
38:57 Executive Support and FinOps Glue
40:54 Conclusion

Discover how to use business context and internal marketing to drive real FinOps adoption. Learn how to apply a value-driven cloud strategy by moving beyond raw data and adding human and business context.

Our podcast guest: Ben de Mora

00:00 Introduction
00:37 Data Is Not Enough
01:58 Context Behind Costs
04:00 Ownership And Incentives
07:00 Engineering Priorities
09:00 Make FinOps Relevant
16:51 FinOps Shapes Strategy
27:00 Margins And Balance Sheets
30:27 Using AI For Analysis
39:12 Wrap Up And Next Steps

We analyze how Generative AI is changing the rules of FinOps. We break down the new skills required for the FinOps Persona and how to decouple experimentation spend from production costs.

Most importantly, we showcase real-world examples of how to build your own tools (MCP) without being an expert developer.

00:00 AI Meets FinOps
04:10 New Skills to Become Better FinOps
09:19 Examples of using AI in Daily Workflow
17:05 Vibe Coding and Tooling Shift
23:16 Governing AI Spend
27:46 FinOps Team Restructuring
34:07 Staying Current Without Burnout

In this ultimate FinOps guide for beginners, we’re joined by Donal Burke to show you exactly how to transition from a traditional finance or accounting role into the tech ecosystem.

Discover why success in this field ultimately comes down to reading numbers and talking to people, and why learning FinOps today is one of the smartest career moves you can make in the age of AI.

00:00  Welcome
00:54  Cloud Basics for Beginners
04:00  What FinOps Means
07:25  FinOps Roadmap and Certs
12:09  Common Beginner Mistakes
16:58  Skills of Great FinOps
20:46  Future of FinOps
27:41  Is Now the Time?

Discover the future of IT cost management and the evolution of FinOps with the adoption of a Universal Spend Ledger.

Check Ternary at https://ternary.app/platform/overview/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=finops-weekly-2026-03&utm_id=youtube_finopsweekly

Sasha, Co-Founder and CEO of Ternary, breaks down why the FinOps Foundation has expanded its scope beyond cloud spending to encompass all technology spend (IOA, SaaS licenses, and data centers).