Each year the FinOps community surveys practitioners to understand where they are focusing their efforts. For 2025, waste reduction remains the undisputed number one priority. Accurately allocating costs to teams and forecasting spend come next, while managing AI spend and expanding the scope of FinOps into SaaS and private cloud are rising fast.
The bar chart below shows the share of respondents who ranked each area as a top priority.
What This Means for You
- Double down on waste reduction: With up to 50 % of cloud spend going unused in some organisations, eliminating waste remains the fastest way to improve margins.
- Invest in allocation and forecasting: Accurate showback and well‑tuned budgets empower teams to own their consumption.
- Prepare for AI spend management: Sixty‑three percent of FinOps teams now manage AI budgets – expect this to become standard.
- Expand your scope: SaaS and private cloud costs are too large to ignore. FinOps practices must follow the spend.
MLMind is built with these priorities in mind. Our waste detectors, allocation engine and guardrails address the most pressing needs of 2025 and beyond. As the scope of FinOps grows, MLMind keeps you ahead of the curve. Get in touch to learn how we can align with your goals for the year ahead.