In this expert panel, practitioners share hands-on experiences and actionable guidance for launching and expanding FinOps policy frameworks while fostering strong collaboration between engineering and finance teams. We’ll dive into how to balance IaC-based (shift-left) governance with runtime enforcement, explore the growing influence of automation and as-code practices, and discuss how AI is starting to transform policy management and optimization in today’s dynamic cloud environments.
FinOps Weekly presents
Cloud Usage Optimization & Governance Summit
May 7th, 2025 | 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM EST
powered by Stacklet
Reducing waste and optimizing workloads is the #1 current priority for FinOps teams, according to the latest State of FinOps Report from the FinOps Foundation. The report also confirms a significant shift in focus: policy and governance at scale has emerged as the top priority for the next 12 months among Cloud and FinOps teams.
This evolution makes sense. While organizations have made strides in tackling cloud waste, many now recognize that without scalable policy and governance, those savings don’t stick.
The Cloud Usage Optimization & Governance Summit, presented by FinOps Weekly and powered by Stacklet, will explore this shift in depth—offering practical insights, proven best practices, real-world policy examples, and strategies for cross-functional collaboration between FinOps, engineering, and beyond.
Speakers
Sessions
Million-Dollar FinOps Policies: Real-World Examples That Drive Impact
Discover how leading organizations have unlocked seven-figure savings through effective FinOps practices. This session highlights practical, real-world examples of financial operations policies that combine strategic insight with hands-on implementation. You’ll gain actionable methods, innovative frameworks, and collaborative techniques to drive measurable impact across teams and multi-cloud environments.
Preventing Waste by Design: Shift Left and Runtime FinOps Governance
Most cloud missteps come with a high price tag — yet they’re often avoidable. This session reveals how proactive FinOps governance minimizes waste by integrating “shift-left” policies into Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and reinforcing them at runtime. Through a real-world case study, we’ll demonstrate how continuous feedback refines policy performance, ensuring consistency across development and execution. The result: faster intervention, less rework, and sustainable cloud efficiency at scale.
Panel: Real-World FinOps Policy & Governance at Scale
Mean time to Saving (MTTS): The Metric That Speeds Up Your Savings
Mean Time to Savings (MTTS) is emerging as a critical FinOps metric for assessing how effectively teams act on optimization opportunities. This session explains why MTTS matters, how to accurately measure it, and how it can strengthen accountability across organizations. Learn practical strategies to reduce waste through quicker decision-making, smoother workflows, and proactive policy enforcement — turning insights into tangible financial results faster.
The Art of the Possible: How AI Could Transform FinOps Policy, Governance, and Optimization
This visionary session explores the expanding impact of AI in FinOps — moving far beyond traditional anomaly detection. We’ll examine how AI-driven insights and intelligent agents are redefining financial operations by automating repetitive tasks, enforcing governance policies, and accelerating time to savings. Discover how these advancements empower engineering teams to take smarter, faster action, offering a preview of an AI-enabled future where continuous optimization and policy enforcement happen seamlessly at scale.
Collaborating for Cloud Control: How FinOps and Security Align on Governance
This session examines how FinOps and Security teams can work together more effectively to empower engineering teams with aligned cost and security controls. By fostering shared visibility and joint accountability, organizations can achieve faster execution, clearer ownership, and more sustainable cloud governance — driving both financial efficiency and risk reduction across the enterprise.
Stacklet for Cloud Usage Optimization & FinOps Governance: Overview and Sneak Peak
In this closing session, the Stacklet team highlighted how leading organizations leverage Stacklet to cut cloud waste, enhance engineering productivity, and scale governance with confidence. Created by the minds behind Cloud Custodian, Stacklet enables automated, policy-driven governance and continuous optimization of cloud usage. Attendees also got an exclusive preview of what’s next — including new AI-powered capabilities aimed at accelerating Mean Time to Savings (MTTS) and advancing scalable, sustainable cloud governance for the future.
Agenda / Tracks
11:00 AM – Welcome and Opening Remarks
11:15 AM – Million-Dollar FinOps Policies: Real-World Examples That Drive Impact | Victor García & Lindbergh Matillano
11:35 AM – Preventing Waste by Design: Shift-Left and Runtime FinOps Governance | Van Wolfe
12:00 PM – Lightning Talk: Mean Time to Saving (MTTS): The Metric That Speeds Up Your Savings | Lindbergh Matillano
12:15 PM – Panel: Real-World FinOps Policy & Governance at Scale | Mandy Pearce, Bindu Sharma & Kapil Thangavelu
12:50 PM – Collaborating for Cloud Control: How FinOps and Security Align on Governance
1:05 PM – The Art of the Possible: How AI Could Transform FinOps Policy, Governance, and Optimization | Sonny Shi, Suresh Veeragoni
1:25 PM – Sponsored Session: Stacklet | Sonny Shi
1:40 PM – Closing Remarks
When is it happening?
Madrid
05:00 pm – 08:00 pm
London
04:00 pm – 08:00 pm
Jerusalem
06:00 pm – 09:00 pm
Los Angeles
08:00 am – 11:00 am