> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.finopscenter.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.finopscenter.com/ai-cost-governance/overview-and-roles.md).

# Overview & Roles

AI Cost Governance is the module in FinOps Center that manages the full lifecycle of AI workload costs — from approving a model for use, through IAM configuration, to weekly spend review and cost allocation.

This section of the user guide covers all six pages of the AI Governance module and is organized by role. Each page describes what a specific role sees, what actions they take, and what happens next in the workflow.

### Before You Start

AI Cost Governance requires three roles to be filled in your organization. The workflow will not complete unless each role acts on their step.

| Role               | What they own in this module                                                       | Where they work                                           |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **FinOps Lead**    | Model approval, scope definition, allocation policy, Allocation Gap remediation    | AI Governance page → AI Models, AI Tasks, Allocation Gaps |
| **Cloud Engineer** | IAM role creation, Bedrock model access configuration, task completion             | AI Governance page → AI Tasks                             |
| **Product Owner**  | Workload registration, IAM role claiming, token estimates, weekly spend acceptance | Spaces → Add Workload wizard; weekly Spend Cards          |

None of these roles requires direct AWS console access to complete their part of the workflow — FinOps Center surfaces the information and generates the commands each role needs.

### The End-to-End Flow

The governance workflow moves left to right. Each step produces something the next role consumes.

```
FinOps Lead          Cloud Engineer         Product Owner
─────────────────    ──────────────────     ──────────────────────────
1. Review model      3. Pick up task        5. Open Spaces wizard
   catalog              from AI Tasks       6. Select approved model
2. Approve model     4. Create IAM role     7. Claim IAM role
   for account ×        with condition      8. Set token estimate
   region scope         key                 9. Accept weekly spend
                     4b. Mark Implemented      card each period
```

Steps 1–2 are covered in Model Governance. Steps 3–4 are covered in Cloud Engineer Tasks. Steps 5–9 are covered in Workload Setup & Estimates and Weekly Spend Cards.

Allocation Gaps — spend that falls outside the governed workflow — are covered in Allocation Gaps and are handled by the FinOps Lead.

### Terminology

Use these terms consistently. Incorrect terms are noted so you can recognize them if they appear elsewhere.

| Correct term             | Do not use                                                            |
| ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| FinOps Lead              | Admin (this is an internal Cognito role name, not a user-facing term) |
| Product Owner            | End User                                                              |
| Allocation Gap           | Non-Compliance, Compliance Violation                                  |
| Workload Attribution     | Workload Tagging                                                      |
| AI Cost Governance       | AI Compliance, AI Spend Governance                                    |
| Availability Requirement | Inference Endpoint Type                                               |


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