FinOps teams gain clout as AI costs climb

Cost management efforts have spread beyond cloud as enterprises work to get AI spending under control, according to the FinOps Foundation.

Dive Brief: 

• AI cost management is the most desired skillset among financial operations teams, according to 58% of businesses polled by the FinOps Foundation for its annual State of FinOps 2026 report. Nearly all of the 1,192 survey respondents are working to manage AI spend compared with 63% in 2025. 
• FinOps has risen to the C-suite with 78% of teams reporting to the CTO or CIO up from 61% in 2023, the survey found. FinOps teams “overwhelmingly report into the technology organization, with a dotted line to finance,” the report said. 
• Over the years, FinOps has grown into a multitechnology practice, according to the report. Nine out of 10 practitioners manage SaaS, up from 65% in 2025. Meanwhile, 64% manage licensing compared with 49% in 2025, and 57 ...