FinOps in Action | Making Cost a First-Class Engineering Concern ft. Jai Padmanabhan

Making Cost a First-Class Engineering Concern ft. Jai Padmanabhan | Ep #62

March 26, 2026 / 37:22/E62

Why does cloud cost optimization only start after it’s already too late?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Jai Padmanabhan, who shares why cloud cost is no longer just a finance concern; it’s a core responsibility for engineering teams. Drawing on decades of experience leading platforms in complex and regulated environments, Jai explains how the shift to the cloud fundamentally changed how organizations think about cost, and why treating it as an afterthought leads to reactive, high-pressure optimization later on.

He breaks down how teams can build cost awareness into their day-to-day workflows, from setting budgets and enforcing guardrails to leveraging automation that scales infrastructure up and down based on real demand.

Jai also explores the trade-offs between efficiency and reliability, emphasizing why SLAs should always take priority in production and how over-optimization can introduce unintended consequences. From storage strategies in regulated industries to the hidden complexity of data transfer costs, he shares practical insights on where organizations commonly overspend and how to avoid it.

Here’s what we talked about: