US CFOs warn cloud costs are rising as AI budgets grow

Azul has published a report on cloud cost pressures among US finance leaders. The survey found that 88% of respondents said their cloud spending is rising.

The study drew on responses from 300 US chief financial officers and senior finance leaders at organisations with more than 500 employees and annual revenue above USD $50 million. It suggests a shift in how companies view cloud spending, with finance teams treating it less as IT overhead and more as an issue for senior management and boards.

Two-thirds of respondents said cloud spending has become a board-level issue. That sits alongside broader concern about profitability, with 90% actively worried about the effect of cloud costs on their bottom line.

Rising scrutiny

Cloud usage has expanded across large companies for years, but the report suggests finance chiefs are paying closer attention as bills rise and AI projects compete for budget. More than half of respondents (56%) said AI and automation were their top financial priority. Another 52% pointed to cash flow and working capital efficiency, while 40% cited reducing overall cloud costs.

This has created tension for finance departments. Companies want to fund AI projects, but many are also trying to protect margins as technology costs climb.

The findings show that 43% of finance leaders believe AI adoption is adding complexity, making spending harder to forecast and control. In practice, cloud budgets are becoming less predictable just as boards demand clearer returns on technology investment.

Waste estimates

The report also highlights how finance leaders assess inefficiency in cloud estates. According to Azul, 69% of chief financial officers believe between 10% and 30% of their cloud spending is wasted, and the survey put the average estimated waste at 23% of total spend.

That matters because cloud costs now account for a meaningful share of overall IT budgets at large companies. If finance leaders believe a notable portion of that spending is avoidable, they are more likely to demand tighter controls over procurement, usage and application design.

Respondents said they are already using a range of tools to address the issue. AI-led cloud spend analytics were cited by 45%, while 44% rely on native tools from cloud providers. Another 29% pointed to workload or infrastructure optimisation vendors, and 24% said they are pursuing re-platforming or application modernisation.

Only 16% said their organisations use Java runtime optimisation or JVM tuning, an area Azul highlighted given its position in the Java software market.

Funding AI

For many finance chiefs, cloud optimisation is not only about lowering costs. The survey found that 45% said the main financial benefit would be greater budget flexibility to fund innovation, including AI and digital projects.

Other benefits included improved margins and profitability at 42%, better forecasting and budgeting at 39%, and stronger alignment between IT spending and business outcomes at 39%. Another 37% said higher utilisation of existing infrastructure was a priority.

These responses suggest cloud efficiency is now being linked directly to investment capacity. Rather than treating optimisation as an isolated cost-cutting exercise, finance teams appear to see it as a way to free up funds for new initiatives without increasing overall technology spending.

The next 12 months are likely to bring a broader agenda than simple cost reduction. Asked about cloud-related priorities, 43% of respondents said improving performance and uptime was at the top of the list, ahead of reducing overall cloud costs at 39% and maximising profitable growth from cloud investments at 38%.

Visibility into current spending was cited by 35%, while 34% pointed to compliance and governance. Support for AI and machine learning initiatives also featured among the leading priorities, underlining how closely cost management and innovation planning are becoming linked.

Scott Sellers, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Azul, said the findings reflect a broader change in how finance leaders approach cloud economics.

"With nearly nine in ten CFOs seeing cloud costs rise and AI now a top investment priority, finance leaders are being forced to rethink how efficiently their applications consume cloud resources," Sellers said.

"Cloud optimization has become a strategic lever - one that allows organizations to fund AI innovation, protect margins and bring greater predictability and accountability to cloud investments. Organisations that optimize at the infrastructure level, starting with how their software consumes compute resources, gain a meaningful advantage in funding the innovations that drive growth," the CEO added.