The exponential growth of cloud computing has revolutionized the IT industry by providing scalable, flexible, and cost-efficient infrastructure solutions. However, as cloud systems become more complex, managing and optimizing these environments becomes increasingly challenging. Traditional cloud management methods often require manual intervention and significant resources to maintain performance, cost-efficiency, and security. Autonomous cloud operations, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), represent the next frontier in cloud management. By leveraging advanced algorithms and real-time data analysis, self-optimizing cloud systems (...) can automate routine tasks such as resource allocation, performance tuning, security management, and fault detection. This paper explores the concept of autonomous cloud operations, highlighting the role of AI and ML in enabling intelligent cloud systems that can autonomously adapt to changing workloads, optimize resource utilization, and improve overall system performance. It also discusses the benefits, challenges, and future prospects of autonomous cloud operations, providing insights into how these technologies can transform cloud management and operations. (shrink)