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OPEN TO OPPORTUNITIES

Tobi John
Olabode

Cloud FinOps practitioner specialising in multi-cloud cost optimisation. 25%+ cloud spend reductions delivered across AWS, Azure & GCP.

See my work Download CV
Multi-cloud certified · FinOps Foundation
EFFECTIVE COST · YTD
£16.72M
TOTAL SAVINGS
£8.35M
ESR
26.17%
Clouds
3
Coverage
95%
AVG SAVINGS
25%+
Live anomaly detection
CHAPTER 01

About Me

Results-driven FinOps professional with over 6 years of experience optimising multi-cloud infrastructure costs and driving financial efficiency across AWS, Azure and GCP. I specialise in building programmatic cost optimisation processes, implementing governance frameworks, and cultivating cost-conscious engineering cultures.

My track record includes delivering 25%+ reductions in cloud spend through automated solutions, real-time monitoring, and strategic collaboration with engineering and finance teams. I translate complex technical decisions into clear business value and help organisations build sustainable cloud financial operations.

With a Master's in Data Science & Analytics from Cardiff University and a strong foundation in financial operations from prior banking roles, I sit comfortably at the intersection of engineering, finance, and analytics — exactly where modern FinOps lives.

6+
Years experience
25%
Avg cloud savings
3
Cloud platforms
50+
Engineers trained
Based in the United Kingdom · Open to remote & hybrid roles worldwide
CHAPTER 02

Core Competencies

FinOps & Financial Mgmt

Multi-cloud cost optimisation Forecasting & budgeting Chargeback / showback Right-sizing Waste elimination

Cloud Platforms

Azure Expert
AWS Expert
GCP Proficient
Cost Management · RIs & Savings Plans · Budgets · SCPs · CUDs · Apptio · CloudHealth

Technical & Automation

Terraform / IaC Python PowerShell Bash / Linux Power BI SQL Azure DevOps GitHub Actions API Integration Anomaly Detection

Leadership

  • Cross-functional stakeholder mgmt
  • FinOps culture evangelism
  • Vendor relationship mgmt
  • Technical training & enablement
  • Quarterly leadership reviews
CHAPTER 03

Professional Experience

Measurable impact delivered across enterprise multi-cloud environments.

OCT 2025 — PRESENT
Next Retail Limited
Senior FinOps Analyst
Azure & GCP

Building FinOps from the ground up at a major UK retail organisation — designing governance, tooling, and culture across Azure & GCP from scratch.

COST OPTIMISATION & FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
  • Developing and implementing FinOps policies, governance frameworks and maturity assessments from scratch, driving a culture of financial accountability across engineering and finance teams
  • Driving significant cost-saving opportunities through strategic resource optimisation, reservations, rightsizing, workload optimisation and auto-scaling, delivering measurable ROI on cloud investments
  • Owning cloud budget creation, forecasting and ongoing management, ensuring accurate cost allocation and improved budgeting processes across multiple domains
  • Continuously monitoring and analysing cloud spend to identify trends, anomalies and optimisation opportunities using Azure Cost Management, Azure Advisor and custom tooling
AUTOMATION, REPORTING & DASHBOARDS
  • Designed and delivered the FinOps Hub (Monthly, AI and Daily Cost Dashboards), providing real-time visibility and data-driven insights for stakeholders and Domain Managers
  • Leveraging scripting and Infrastructure-as-Code (PowerShell, Terraform) to automate reporting, cost monitoring and anomaly detection, significantly improving efficiency and data accuracy
GOVERNANCE, MATURITY & STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
  • Led Product Tag Implementation and supported the development of showback/chargeback models to provide true cost visibility for shared infrastructure across product and domain teams
  • Set KPIs and established Monthly Domain Cost Review Meetings, presenting cost optimisation progress and dashboard changes directly to Domain Managers and senior leadership
  • Contributing to the evaluation and business case for advanced FinOps tooling to enable more granular, proactive cost recommendations and replace existing solutions
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP
  • Presenting cost optimisation progress and dashboard changes directly to Domain Managers and senior leadership, increasing visibility of FinOps impact across the organisation
  • Collaborating closely with cloud architects, DevOps, finance, procurement and leadership teams to embed FinOps principles and influence technical and financial decision-making
  • Supporting FinOps maturity assessments and continuous improvement of processes across the team
NOV 2022 — APR 2025
Taylor & Eyre Limited
FinOps Engineer
AWS
KEY ACHIEVEMENT · 25% REDUCTION IN CLOUD WASTE
  • Delivered 25% reduction in cloud waste using AWS Cost Explorer, Budgets, and Anomaly Detection
  • Built automated Power BI dashboards providing real-time visibility across 15+ business units
  • Created Python-based automated cost reporting system reducing manual effort by 80%
  • Implemented automated shutdown scripts achieving 30% cost reduction in dev/test environments
  • Established resource tagging policies and SCPs improving cost allocation accuracy by 95%
  • Trained 50+ engineers on cost-conscious development practices
  • Supported contract negotiations contributing to 15% annual savings through strategic procurement
FEB 2019 — SEP 2022
FBNQuest Merchant Bank
Senior Transaction Analyst
  • Led team of 6 analysts achieving 99%+ error-free equity trade execution
  • Reduced transaction processing time by 40% through workflow optimisation
  • Developed automated reconciliation processes and Power BI financial reporting dashboards
  • Implemented KYC/AML processes optimising client onboarding by 15% while ensuring SEC Nigeria & MiFID II compliance

Earlier roles · Deputy Branch Operations Manager at Zenith Bank · Project Manager at DUFMA Integrated Agritech

CHAPTER 04

Featured Case Studies

A selection of FinOps dashboards and tooling I've built to give engineering and finance teams real visibility into cloud spend.

FinOps Cost Summary dashboard showing £16.72M effective cost, £8.35M total savings, 26.17% ESR, and a stacked time-series of cost vs negotiated and commitment savings.
POWER BI · MULTI-CLOUD

Multi-Cloud FinOps Executive Dashboard

Single pane of glass for executive cloud spend across subscriptions, services and commitment discounts. Tracks £16.7M effective cost against £8.4M of realised savings with full breakdown by subscription, service and resource group.

£16.7M
EFF. COST
£8.35M
SAVINGS
26.17%
ESR
Power BI Azure Cost Mgmt Savings Plans RIs
FinOps Daily Cost Dashboard with 30-day department breakdown, anomaly detection band and yesterday-vs-30-day-average comparison.
DAILY · ANOMALY DETECTION

Daily Cost Monitoring & Anomaly Detection

Daily cost dashboard with department-level stacking and a 30-day rolling baseline. Surfaces yesterday's spend against the 30-day average, drilling down by product, subscription, environment and resource group to investigate anomalies in minutes rather than days.

30d
BASELINE
15+
BUS UNITS
80%
LESS MANUAL
Power BI DAX Anomaly Detection Tagging
GCP Cost analysis Jan-Sept 2025 showing total cost £1.45M, discounts received £838.55, monthly cost breakdown with January peak of £508.76K.
GCP · DISCOUNT ANALYSIS

GCP Cost & Discount Ratio Analysis

YTD GCP analysis covering £1.45M of combined spend across multiple billing accounts, with cost-to-discount ratio breakdowns by project, environment and service. Filterable slicers across department, environment and service description for granular drill-down.

£1.45M
TOTAL
9 mo
PERIOD
CUDs
APPLIED
GCP CUDs Power BI Slicers
Azure AI Cost Summary daily dashboard showing AI spend by department over a 30-day window.
AI / ML · DEPT BREAKDOWN

Azure AI Cost Tracker

Daily cost dashboard for Azure AI / ML services tracking consumed quantity (tokens, calls) alongside effective cost. Filtered by department, environment and month to give product owners clear visibility on AI workload economics — critical as generative AI workloads scale.

Daily
CADENCE
3.6B
TOKENS / MO
N depts
FILTERABLE
Azure OpenAI Power BI Tagging FinOps for AI
Azure Shadow Cost open source tool — illustration of shadow cost detection.
OPEN SOURCE · GITHUB

Azure Shadow Cost

Open-source tooling and analysis framework for surfacing hidden ("shadow") costs, orphaned resources, and optimisation opportunities inside complex Azure estates — going beyond what native cost management tools can show. Built to be pluggable into existing FinOps workflows.

Azure Python Cost Analytics CLI
View on GitHub All repositories
CHAPTER 05

Writing & Publications

Sharing FinOps perspectives at the intersection of data science and cloud financial operations.

NEW tobiolabode.tech · Jun 2026

Beyond Advisor-Green: Building an Open-Source Shadow Cost Detector for Multi-Cloud

Native cloud advisors are good at what they're designed for — they're not designed to surface the 10–30% of recoverable spend hiding behind all-green dashboards. How I built Shadow Cost, an open-source tri-cloud FinOps webapp that goes further.

Read article
FEATURED Medium · Jan 2026

Why Your Cloud Bill Is a Big Data Problem

A data scientist's take on FinOps in 2026 — examining how cloud billing has crossed the threshold from spreadsheet exercise into a genuine big-data engineering and analytics challenge.

Read article
All posts
CHAPTER 06

Education

MSc Data Science & Analytics
Cardiff University
Advanced analytics, statistical modelling and data-driven decision making.
B.Tech Management & Accounting
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
Financial management and business operations foundation.
Operational Research Society
Candidate Associate · Member #65050
CREDENTIALS

Certifications

FinOps Certified Practitioner
FinOps Foundation
AWS Cloud Practitioner
AWS Cloud Quest
AWS Machine Learning Foundations & Introduction to Generative AI
AWS
Introduction to FinOps
FinOps Foundation
Generative AI with AWS
Udacity
CHAPTER 07

Want the full picture?

Download the complete CV with detailed responsibilities, achievements, technical proficiencies and references — formatted for ATS and recruiter-friendly review.

Download CV (PDF) Preview in browser
CHAPTER 08

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions from hiring managers, engineers, and FinOps teams.

What does Tobi John Olabode specialise in?
I specialise in cloud financial operations (FinOps) across AWS, Azure, and GCP — helping organisations identify and eliminate wasted cloud spend, build governance frameworks, and create engineering cultures where cost is a first-class concern. My background sits at the intersection of data science, financial operations, and cloud engineering, which means I can translate technical architecture decisions into clear financial outcomes. Over 6 years I've consistently delivered 25%+ reductions in cloud spend through a combination of automated tooling, right-sizing programmes, commitment strategies, and cross-functional stakeholder alignment.
What measurable cloud cost savings has Tobi delivered?
Across engagements, I've contributed to over £8.35M in total cloud savings at a 26%+ effective savings rate. At Taylor & Eyre, I drove a 25%+ reduction in AWS cloud spend through a combination of right-sizing, Reserved Instance and Savings Plan optimisation, and automated anomaly detection pipelines. At Next Retail, I'm building the FinOps function from scratch — implementing governance policies, automated Power BI cost dashboards, and chargeback frameworks that give product teams real accountability over their spend. I focus on sustainable savings, not one-off cuts.
Which cloud platforms and FinOps tools does Tobi work with?
I'm expert-level across Azure and AWS, and proficient on GCP. On the tooling side: Azure Cost Management, AWS Cost Explorer, Apptio Cloudability, CloudHealth, and custom-built Power BI dashboards backed by Terraform and PowerShell automation. For tagging enforcement and governance I use Azure Policy, SCPs on AWS, and custom IaC pipelines. I'm also comfortable building bespoke Python scripts and APIs for cost anomaly detection, idle resource discovery, and commitment coverage modelling — the kind of analysis that native advisor tools typically miss.
What is Shadow Cost and why did Tobi build it?
Shadow Cost is an open-source multi-cloud FinOps web application I built after repeatedly seeing organisations hit all-green in their native cloud advisor dashboards — yet still leaving 10–30% of recoverable spend on the table. Native advisors are designed to surface obvious wins; they aren't designed to detect cross-cloud commitment gaps, idle-but-tagged resources, misallocated chargeback, or egress blind spots. Shadow Cost runs five detection categories across AWS, Azure, and GCP simultaneously and surfaces ranked savings opportunities with owner assignment. It's available on GitHub and built to plug into existing FinOps workflows.
How does Tobi approach building a FinOps practice from scratch?
I follow a three-phase approach: Visibility → Accountability → Optimisation. First, I get full cost visibility by fixing tagging, setting up cost allocation, and building a reporting layer (typically Power BI) that finance, engineering, and leadership can all read. Second, I establish accountability by introducing chargeback or showback models, defining KPIs, and running regular financial reviews with each cloud-owning team. Third, I drive ongoing optimisation through right-sizing analysis, commitment planning (RIs, Savings Plans, CUDs), waste elimination automation, and anomaly detection. The order matters — optimising before you have accountability is a short-term fix that doesn't stick.
What makes Tobi different from other FinOps practitioners?
Three things stand out. First, the data science background — an MSc from Cardiff University means I can build statistical models for forecasting and anomaly detection rather than relying purely on threshold alerts. Second, the finance foundation — an undergraduate degree in Management & Accounting plus prior banking experience means I understand how CFOs and finance directors read a cloud bill, not just how engineers do. Third, the builder mentality — I don't just configure existing tools; I build what doesn't exist yet, which is how Shadow Cost and several internal automation pipelines came to be. The combination of all three is relatively rare in the FinOps market.
Is Tobi open to new roles or consulting engagements?
Yes — I'm currently open to opportunities. I'm based in the United Kingdom and open to remote and hybrid roles worldwide. If you're looking for a FinOps practitioner who can lead cloud cost optimisation programmes, build FinOps functions from scratch, or provide hands-on technical delivery across AWS, Azure, and GCP, I'd love to hear from you. The best way to reach me is via email or LinkedIn.
Does Tobi have experience training engineering teams on FinOps?
Yes — I've trained and upskilled 50+ engineers in cloud cost awareness and FinOps best practices. This includes formal lunch-and-learn sessions, one-to-one enablement for team leads, and embedding cost hygiene into sprint ceremonies and architecture reviews. I find that the biggest lever in any FinOps programme isn't tooling — it's changing how engineering teams think about spend. When developers understand the cost impact of their architecture decisions, savings happen organically and sustainably rather than being imposed top-down.
LET'S CONNECT

Ready to optimise your cloud spend?

I'm always open to meaningful conversations about FinOps, cloud strategy, or new opportunities.

EMAIL
oluwamarshal@gmail.com
LINKEDIN
linkedin.com/in/tobiolabode
GITHUB
github.com/Johhnmarshal
MEDIUM
medium.com/@tobiolabode
YOUTUBE
@TheFinOpsArchitect
QUICK MESSAGE

Or email directly · oluwamarshal@gmail.com