FinOps expands focus to ROI, AI efficiency in cloud era

Capital One’s FinOps team provides pivotal guidance on the firm’s AI investments — beyond just managing spend to measuring outcomes.

Dive Brief: 

• AI adoption and complex cloud architectures are evolving the role of FinOps within the enterprise. While traditionally focused on cost-cutting and managing spend, FinOps teams are now helping businesses define the value of technology, according to Flexera’s 2026 State of the Cloud report. The enterprise software company surveyed 753 cloud decision-makers globally for the March 18 report.
• Generative AI accounts for more than half of public cloud services used by enterprises, with large companies investing heavily in governance and oversight. Meanwhile, 73% of organizations operate hybrid cloud architectures, up three percentage points year over year. The rapid rise of AI adoption is contributing to IT and cloud management complexity overall, the report found. 
• As a result, nearly half of FinOps teams are aligning ...