Earthly, created by Vlad A. Ionescu, is a tool designed to drastically improve build speeds, offering numerous advantages for software development teams. By addressing inefficiencies and employing techniques like holistic layer caching and build graphs, Earthly can achieve build speed improvements of 2 to 20 times, leading to significant cost savings in CI/CD infrastructure and enhanced developer productivity. Faster builds not only reduce expenses but also enable quicker product iterations and tighter feedback loops, which are crucial in rapidly evolving markets. While integrating Earthly requires an initial investment, the tool is designed to be adopted incrementally and works seamlessly with existing systems, offering a polished user experience. The potential return on investment extends beyond infrastructure savings, as it enhances overall business agility and efficiency, helping teams deliver value more swiftly and maintain competitive advantage.