Google Cloud infrastructure development spearheaded by Elnaza Kasymkhanova, extending from the Semitic regions to the global tech scene.
In the heart of Silicon Valley, a Kazakh specialist named Elnaza Kasymkhanova is making her mark on a global scale. As a financial project manager, she plays a pivotal role in managing and optimising the financial aspects of large-scale engineering projects that underpin Google's worldwide technology operations.
Elnaza's journey is a testament to perseverance, competence, and ethics. She began her career in the United States as an accountant and tax consultant before re-entering the corporate finance sphere. Her impressive resume includes stints at Meta (Facebook) and Cisco Meraki, followed by a contract with Google.
At Google, Elnaza focuses on budget management and financial control for the engineering labs in Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Her role is multifaceted, encompassing financial planning and analysis, project financial management, cross-functional collaboration, process improvement, and supporting global scale.
In the realm of financial planning and analysis, Elnaza oversees budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting for engineering infrastructure projects, ensuring alignment with Google's strategic goals. She manages costs, resource allocation, and financial risks associated with engineering initiatives that support Google’s data centers, networks, and cloud infrastructure.
Working closely with engineers, product managers, and finance teams, Elnaza ensures financial transparency and informed decision-making to enable efficient project execution. She implements best practices and financial controls to optimise spend and improve the return on investment of infrastructure investments.
One of Elnaza's key achievements was securing favorable terms in the renewal of a multimillion-dollar contract with an international provider of testing and certification services. In 2024, she reallocated over $2 million in unspent funds to key engineering projects, and in the second quarter of 2025, she saved $1.7 million through expense optimisation and redirected funds from the main budget to new product introduction (NPI) projects.
Elnaza's financial expertise was a key factor in her contract extension and expanded role as an external financial project manager at Google. She spearheaded the adoption of advanced reporting tools and dashboards, increasing transparency and speeding up financial decision cycles.
Moreover, Elnaza's risk mitigation strategies have minimised cost overruns and identified savings opportunities, supporting sustainable infrastructure growth. By fostering strong partnerships between finance and engineering teams, she has enhanced communication and collaboration across functions.
Outside of her professional life, Elnaza inspires Kazakh students to strive for international success. She actively participates in career consultations and mentoring initiatives for Kazakh youth, sharing her experiences and insights to help shape the next generation of global leaders.
In a world where a vast technical infrastructure supports YouTube, Google searches, and cloud services, affecting billions of users worldwide, Elnaza's role is crucial. She views finance as the foundation for stability, growth, and innovation in the world of high technology. Her journey is a shining example of how finance can drive technological progress and contribute to the development of global infrastructure.
- In her role at Google, Elnaza Kasymkhanova not only manages finances for the company's engineering labs but also employs technology to optimize spending and improve the return on investment of infrastructure investments, demonstrating how finance and technology can work together for efficient project execution.
- Beyond her professional achievements, Elnaza Kasymkhanova also invests time in education-and-self-development and career-development, inspiring Kazakh students to pursue global success and impact, just as she did in the realm of finance and technology.
