We’re thrilled to host Marit Hughes, a Specialist Master for Government and Public Sector at Deloitte. After debating the best FinOps conferences to attend this year, we tackle the question: with billions and billions of dollars being spent on cloud resources, why is it so hard to make cost optimization actually happen? And as we navigate the unique maze of public sector cloud optimization, get the inside scoop on why it's a different beast from commercial and the conversations taking place behind the scenes.

We discuss the realities of engineering life in the trenches — from lack of tooling and visibility to 18-hour days flooded by JIRA tickets. (Plus, bonkers things we’ve seen in bills). Whether you’re in public sector or private, how do you make cost management a lot less painful for engineers?

The other side of the question is where and how FinOps practitioners should insert themselves to execute and achieve quantifiable results. (Hint: telling engineers their baby is ugly isn’t going to help). Marit reveals the secret sauce for turning defensive conversations into collaborative ones — find out how to unruffle feathers, bridge Engineering and Finance, and deflect the default reaction of “I can’t do that”.