Why Cloud Visibility Is the Foundation of FinOps ft. Stijn Depril, Euroclear | Ep #61

If you can’t see where your cloud spend is going, how can you possibly control it?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Stijn Depril, FinOps Architect at Euroclear and Co-Founder of Costra. He shares why cloud visibility is the starting point for any successful FinOps practice. Drawing on decades of experience in infrastructure and cloud architecture, he explains how many organizations rushed into the cloud without fully understanding the financial implications and why FinOps is ultimately about building the right culture, not just cutting costs.

Stijn discusses the importance of governance, leadership buy-in, and engineering collaboration when managing cloud spend. He also explains why engineers hold more influence over cost optimization than many organizations realize, and how FinOps teams can empower them to make smarter decisions without slowing innovation. The conversation explores what it really takes to move from reactive cost management to a proactive, organization-wide mindset around cloud efficiency.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why visibility is the foundation of effective FinOps
• The risks of moving to the cloud without cost awareness
• How governance helps guide engineers toward optimization
• Why FinOps is as much a cultural shift as it is a financial discipline
• The role engineers play in controlling cloud spend
• What leadership support means for a successful FinOps program

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

2:16 Stijn's FinOps Origin Story

4:07 Financial Problem or Engineering Problem?

5:59 Where FinOps Goes Right (and Wrong)

9:05 Should FinOps Be on the Pitch? Crawl, Walk, Run

11:31 What Does a FinOps Architect Actually Do?

16:44 Optimization in Action (The Hackathon Story)

32:17 AI and FinOps: Opportunities & Risks

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Quote of the Show:

• “I don’t need to have all the trophies on my back here. That’s not necessary. I want the organization and the engineers and the architects to do the right job for the organization.” - Stijn Depril

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sdepril/
• Costra: https://costra.io/
• Website: https://www.euroclear.com/en.html

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