From dashboards to decisions.

When you’ve helped build Google Cloud’s FinOps practice from the ground up and guided more than a hundred enterprises toward smarter, AI-powered cost optimization, you understand what efficiency really means. Pathik Sharma, Cloud FinOps Cost Optimization Lead at Google Cloud, joins host Kevin Rosenquist to explore how Agentic AI is reshaping the way organizations manage cloud costs and why culture, not just tools, determines FinOps success.

In this episode of Unclouded: The Agentic AI FinOps Podcast by Cloudgov.ai, Pathik breaks down what happens when AI doesn’t just analyze data, it acts on it. From anomaly detection and automation to embedding cost awareness in every developer’s workflow, this conversation shows how Agentic AI is taking FinOps from reactive to truly self-optimizing.

In this episode:

• Why most FinOps programs fail and how to fix them
• Finding the right balance between automation and human control
• The dangers of over-automation (and what to do instead)
• Building smarter cost anomaly detection that teams actually trust
• How AI-powered guardrails prevent waste before it happens
• Why FinOps is a culture, not a toolset
• The story behind Pathik’s viral FinOps SketchNotes
• What “AI-augmented decision-making” means for the future of FinOps

Whether you’re a FinOps leader, engineer, or executive looking to understand how AI can finally connect cost, culture, and accountability, this episode delivers practical insight with a human touch.

Listen. Learn. Stay Unclouded. Brought to you by Cloudgov.ai — the world’s first Agentic AI FinOps platform.

Timestamps:

01:00 - Why FinOps gets ignored until it’s too late

03:05 - From data centers to cloud: how cost ownership changed

04:33 - Balancing automation with human judgment

07:29 - The dangers of over-automation

10:23 - Real-world examples and lessons learned

11:12 - Detecting anomalies before they burn your budget

15:00 - Making FinOps culture stick

18:00 - Shifting from cost-cutting to value creation

20:04 - Bridging the gap between finance and engineering

23:04 - Turning FinOps into something people actually enjoy

25:51 - The art and impact of FinOps SketchNotes

27:14 - Rapid-Fire Round: myths, metrics, and the road to