Cache-it – Episode #4 – Million dollar lines of code: Engineering your cloud cost optimization with Erik Peterson

Episode 4 of the Cache-it podcast features a discussion between host Khawaja Shams and Erik Peterson, the Founder and CTO of CloudZero, about the concept of "million dollar lines of code," which refers to optimizing individual lines of code to achieve significant cloud cost savings. Erik highlights the common issue where engineers, due to the ease of provisioning cloud resources, often overlook cost, focusing instead on performance and functionality, which leads to wasteful spending. The conversation explores how engineers can shift their mindset from maximizing resource consumption to optimizing usage, with examples of costly practices like excessive debug logging and inefficient data access patterns. Erik emphasizes the importance of aligning cost optimization with a strong user experience, underscoring how small code changes can enhance system performance and yield substantial cost reductions. With over two decades in the software industry, Erik is a pioneer in cloud cost optimization and advocates for serverless computing, contributing actively to FinOps and Serverless communities.