My team and I just wrapped up the first FinOps X Europe in Barcelona, where the FinOps community came together to tackle some pressing challenges. While there was plenty of discussion about AI, tooling and standards, what really stood out were the practical realities organizations are facing.
Here’s what we found most interesting:
1: We Need to Rethink What “Shift Left” Actually Means
Let’s be honest, the current conversation around “shifting left” in FinOps risks putting us in the same trap security teams fell into years ago. If we position FinOps as a gating function that has to approve everything upfront, we’re missing the point.
What we really need are tight feedback loops that let teams experiment and innovate while getting quick insights about cost impacts. This represents a crucial pivot from the old paradigm where FinOps teams were the “cleanup crew” to becoming strategic partners that enable rapid experimentation with non-invasive guardrails.
2: Private Cloud Costs are Causing Real Pain
This past year has been brutal for organizations running data centers and private clouds, with licensing costs exploding due to disruption from Broadcom’s purchase of VMware. The new licensing reality means that developers can no longer assume that on-premise hosting will be the “more economical choice” for any given workload.
We’re seeing decade-old financial models crumbling as companies grapple with a dramatically different cost landscape. This isn’t just about public cloud anymore—organizations need help understanding and optimizing costs across their entire technology footprint.
3: AI Hype is Starting to Meet Reality
In San Diego six months ago, the community was abuzz about AI but, in reality, few had real experience with it. Now we’re seeing early pragmatic applications emerge, from using GenAI for everything from pull request optimization suggestions to enhanced cost analytic querying.
The focus has shifted from “if” AI will impact FinOps to “how” it can augment practitioners’ capabilities. The key takeaway? It’s fundamentally a data problem first. Without the right data foundation, AI is doomed to be another costly investment that lacks sustainable ROI.
4: FOCUS is Moving the Needle
The FOCUS standard is making real progress in solving the data normalization headache that’s plagued FinOps teams. With FOCUS 1.1 announced here in Barcelona, we’re seeing a clear path forward with twice-yearly releases.
Yes, cloud providers are still catching up on implementation, but this is giving organizations hope that they can stop spending so much time just getting their data in order.
5: ROI is the Real Conversation
What’s really driving all of this is a laser focus on ROI. It’s not just about cloud billing anymore—organizations are looking at everything from SaaS to data center investments through the lens of business value.
The scope of what falls under FinOps is expanding because that’s what customers actually need.
Looking Ahead
The reality is that FinOps teams are dealing with more complexity than ever. The winners will be those who can build tight feedback loops, leverage automation intelligently, and focus on driving real business value rather than just cost-cutting.
Is it messy? Absolutely. But that’s where the real work happens. And from what I saw in Barcelona, the FinOps community is rolling up its sleeves and diving in.
