2025 is winding down, but cloud and AI spending is still heating up. September brought some big news that could impact your bottom line.
Here are the can’t-miss cloud cost updates from last month:
- Azure users’ wallets are in for a bit of a squeeze starting in November.
- Google took an exciting leap forward with AI agents that will surely affect development costs down the road.
- FinOps X 2026 is on the schedule — and there’s still time to propose event speakers.
Enjoy!
Top Cloud Cost Headlines From September 2025
1. Microsoft announced a pricing overhaul that will affect enterprise customers
Effective Nov. 1, 2025, Microsoft will be ditching all volume-based pricing discounts for its cloud-based services. This includes Azure and Microsoft 365 in addition to all other online services you may use through Microsoft.
Unfortunately, if your organization is an enterprise-level customer (Microsoft specifies this will affect pricing levels A through D), you’re likely to see an increase on your bill the next time your contract renews.
Microsoft claims its eventual goal is to “simplify pricing”, but in the short term you’ll soon lose any “waterfall discounts” you may have relied upon to keep prices under control.
FinOps practitioners, this means your goal of optimizing resource usage is more important than ever, since volume discounts will no longer create wiggle room in the budget.
2. Google introduced an interesting AI agent payment protocol
Google has created an Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) to allow AI agents to conduct financial transactions on behalf of users. Gone are the days where a human user must initiate and confirm a purchase, so we expect to see a massive shift in how commerce platforms do business.
AP2 uses cryptographically-signed digital contracts (or “Mandates”) to ensure what they refer to as “tamper-proof” AI-led transactions. To use Google’s example, a user could ask an AI agent to buy tickets to an event the second they go on sale, and the agent can now complete the purchase without the user having to lift a finger.
While this news doesn’t directly relate to your cloud bill or your FinOps strategy, it does open the door for some potentially exciting (and terrifying) possibilities. Soon, you may be able to use an AI agent to scale up or down usage licenses on Google’s marketplace based on your real-time needs.
It also means agents now have the means to rack up even more costs than usual under their own free will. Developers will need to be as cautious as ever to keep not only their own spending habits under control, but also to monitor the spending habits of the AI agents they create.
We’re now living in a world where a developer could create an Inception-level agentic system: Imagine if an agent creates — at will — secondary agents that can make autonomous purchases when the need arises. In turn, this will likely require another agent to monitor all of its subordinates. If you thought AI cost management was complicated already, get ready to start the game over on Nightmare Mode.
3. Registration is officially open for FinOps X 2026
The FinOps Foundation released the details of FinOps X 2026, which will take place June 8–11 in San Diego, California. Early bird registration is open, so secure your spot now.
On the agenda are several FinOps for AI topics including adopting best practices, measuring AI’s business value, and allocating shared AI costs. If you’re breaking into AI and you’re still experiencing sticker shock every time you release a new feature, these panels could help you get your cost management strategy back on track.
Proposals for speakers will be open until February, which means there’s still time to get your favorite presenter’s name on the list. You can view the call for proposals here.
Don’t Let Cloud And AI Costs Derail Your Innovation
Microsoft’s services are about to get more expensive, and Google’s agentic protocol means cost management is more complex than ever. CloudZero can help you optimize your spending so these wrenches in the plan don’t get in your way.
Our platform connects and standardizes your cost data from every cloud provider and AI service you work with. We’ll call out opportunities for optimization, spending anomalies, and other insights that will help you stay profitable even when your AI agent takes on a mind of its own.
to see CloudZero in action.
The Cloud Cost Playbook
The step-by-step guide to cost maturity
