How can dashboards, automation & collaboration advance FinOps maturity in the enterprise?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sat down with Ron Stein, IT Manager of Cloud FinOps at ZS, to explore how data empowerment, automation, and strategic tooling can elevate FinOps practices across an organization.

Ron shares his unconventional path from radio DJ and commercial photographer to FinOps leader, and breaks down the priorities that matter most to FinOps teams today—including transparency, stakeholder enablement, and cloud cost accountability.

We cover key topics including:

• Why Power BI was chosen to build scalable, cost-effective FinOps dashboards

• How automation has streamlined chargeback, allocation, and reporting processes

• The role of budget alerts and anomaly detection in proactive cloud cost management

• Embedding FinOps into the Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) to improve collaboration and drive culture change

If you're in cloud cost management, FinOps, or cloud strategy, this episode is packed with insights to help you scale smart and collaborate better.

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more expert discussions on cloud financial operations, FinOps best practices, and strategies for scaling in large organizations!

Quote of the Show:

• “ First we need to figure out what we need to do, turn it into a process, and then automate as much as possible. ” - Ron Stein

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-stein-48a455/
• Website: https://www.zs.com/

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
• iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
• Transistor: finopsinaction.com
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency