Using Unit Economics to Optimize Cloud Spend & Improve Margins ft. Kevin Mueller, Presidio | Ep #67

Are you actually measuring the value of your cloud spend or just tracking the cost?

In this episode of FinOps in Action, I sit down with Kevin Mueller, Principal Architect of Cloud FinOps at Presidio, to unpack one of the most talked-about and most misunderstood concepts in FinOps: unit economics.

With over 20 years of experience spanning software engineering, AWS SaaS architecture, and cloud financial management, Kevin shares a grounded, practical perspective on why most organizations struggle to implement unit economics and how to actually get started.

The conversation explores the gap between visibility and action, why traditional cost allocation models fall short, and how engineering, product, finance, and sales all benefit when cloud spend is tied directly to business value. Kevin also dives into real-world examples, from optimizing SQL queries and Kubernetes workloads to navigating the growing complexity of AI-driven infrastructure.

If you’ve ever wondered how to move beyond dashboards and into meaningful optimization, or how to prove that your cloud investment is truly productive, this episode is for you.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Why most companies still aren’t doing unit economics (and what separates those who do it well)
• The difference between unit metrics and unit economics
• How to move from high-level allocation to actionable, engineering-driven insights
• How to approach tagging without overcomplicating your system
• Why AI is the next major FinOps challenge (and opportunity)
• The biggest challenges with shared resources like Kubernetes and what actually drives optimization

Chapters:

00:00 - Cloud Cost Tradeoffs

01:31 - Kevin’s FinOps Journey

03:13 - Unit Economics Reality Check

04:18 - Defining Unit Economics

05:46 - How to Implement It

09:26 - Metrics That Drive Action

14:10 - Allocation Products vs Teams

20:26 - Tagging Without Pain

23:02 - Kubernetes Cost Challenges

24:51 - K8s Optimization Basics

26:18 - Architecture Choices with Units

28:04 - AI as Shared Spend

30:13 - Measuring AI Value

32:28 - AI for FinOps Teams

35:41 - Life on the Farm

37:54 - Wrap Up and Where to Connect

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Quote of the Show:

• “It's so easy in FinOps to measure all of this stuff, put it in a dashboard and look at it and feel happy that it's there, but you need to drive towards action.” - Kevin Mueller

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmueller/
• Website: https://www.presidio.com/

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