Balaji Narayanan shares how Clari’s FinOps practice became a cross-functional team effort where visibility, finance–engineering alignment, and a culture of shared accountability create the energy to drive sustained optimization, innovation, and long-term business value.
Key Takeaways
- Forecasting begins with visibility – build inventory first, then layer in accountability
- FinOps is not just for finance, it’s a cultural handshake with engineering
- Cost optimization and innovation form a reinforcing flywheel
- Shared language, transparency, and measurable outcomes drive results
- CloudZero enables centralized, cross-vendor visibility and action at scale
About the guest
Balaji Narayanan is VP of Infrastructure and Engineering at Clari. With over 25 years of experience managing large-scale systems, Balaji is known for turning complex challenges into actionable solutions. He champions innovation, visibility, and accountability across engineering, infrastructure, and financial operations—building cultures where FinOps thrives from the ground up.
