Systems administrator and cloud and capacity architect Andrew Babione serves as the FinOps director at S&P Global in New York City, New York. He oversees the firm’s cloud financial information systems, with an emphasis on cost reduction and improving capacity to ensure that Global Fortune 100 and Fortune Global 500 firms, as well as over 100,000 other clients, have access to valuable ratings, benchmarks, indices, data, analytics, and research. Andrew Babione works with clients and employees to reduce cloud costs, manage savings plans, lead migration projects, and partner with vendors to onboard FinOps tools.
Mr. Babione leverages his business degree from Radford University and numerous career-relevant professional accreditations, including IT Service Management Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Everyone. In recognition of his contribution to cloud architecture, especially in cost reduction, he received numerous accolades in 2023, including honorable mentions from Digital Technology Services and Technology Strategy and Governance organizations. The recognitions honors individuals who have exceeded expectations in enabling the employee, developer, customer, and enterprise experience, and who have exhibited S&P Global values.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Waking up early and working out before work starts. Shower, eat, and be ready to work before 8 am. I work remote, so planning and staying on schedule is crucial for my concentration and productivity. Once work is finished, I try to start attacking my notes in my iPhone. Often, this is working on my side business, fixing and selling golf carts. It is important for me to accomplish some tasks on my to-do list so the next day has less.
How do you bring ideas to life?
By writing them down and creating tasks to make these ideas reality. I am process-oriented and have to have ideas broken into tasks.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Concentrating on health. I can easily let myself slip and become lazy and complacent. When I am truly on a health kick of eating, sleeping, and exercising, I find everything else in my life is easier to deal with and becomes successful.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
This is a pattern, but writing down my ideas and tasks are so crucial to me being successful. I can look at something and see how to complete something rather than just having an idea in my head.
What advice would you give your younger self?
To be patient and to keep up with the little things. Sometimes, I sit and worry and have anxiety about things that are not even real. I wish I would have tried harder and was not so lazy in my 20s. Going to bed earlier, drinking less, all around trying and being more concerned about health would be a focus if I could go back.
Tell us something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I think social media and porn are the some of the worst things you can have in your life. I think all my male friends are obsessed with both. They create this false sense of reality that doesn’t have any correlation to real life. They are both completely worthless and only harm your brain. I don’t have social media apps downloaded besides Facebook. This is how I sell my golf carts and laptops as my side job.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Don’t spend money on cosmetics and nonessentials. I see some of my friends that don’t have much money buy the dumbest stuff. New/nice cars, expensive watches, food deliveries. I am not perfect, but something I have done a good job as I get older is being practical and using my money in a better way.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I try to break what I need to do into tasks and processes. I think concentrating on the big picture often makes me feel like I am hopeless and behind. Making achievable tasks in a list help me prioritize and get things done.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Being clean and tidy is so important. Having a clean desk and workplace is one aspect of it, but also not procrastinating and making sure your financials and physical areas are clean. Having clutter in my head or in my house makes me feel low and overwhelmed.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I would like to start a Turo rental LLC and have them pay off cars. I have a business model that, with minimal effort, pays of your cars. I do not think I could do it as a full-time job, but you get so many tax breaks and can end up getting so much equity and essentially a free car.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
AI. I use AI in my work all the time to help automate tasks. We use it to right-size servers in the cloud, I use it to draft emails, I use it for ideas. AI has made my job and life so much easier.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
AirTags. Having an AirTag on my wallet and personal items helps me relax. When I travel, I put one in my bag if I am checking it. I have it on my keychain for my car keys. This was one the best and most affordable purchases I have ever made.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
Dexter: Resurrection. I think I enjoyed it so much for the nostalgia. It was one of my favourite series and usually a sequel does not live up to what you want it to be. The acting was great, and it felt like an extension of the original.
Key learnings
- Try hard and don’t be lazy.
- Be organized and create tasks on how you are going to achieve a goal.
- You can make mistakes; what you do after is up to you to be successful.