The Architects
Firsthand frugal insights from seasoned cloud architects
Frugal engineering for ocean conservation: My journey with The Ocean Cleanup
Boyan Slat Founder and CEO, The Ocean Cleanup
When 16-year-old Boyan Slat encountered more plastic bags than fish in Greek waters, he asked a simple question that would change everything: "Why can't we just clean this up?" From €200 in pocket money to removing over 90 million pounds of ocean plastic, Boyan's journey shows how constraints-driven thinking and frugal innovation can tackle the world's most impossible challenges by "focusing, failing, and forbearing."
My dad taught me the difference between cheap and frugal...It made me a better engineer
Craig Link Chief Cloud Architect, Zillow
Growing up tracking every mile per gallon in his father's worn notebook, Craig learned early that frugality means making smart tradeoffs. Today, he applies those same principles as Zillow's Chief Cloud Architect, proving that some of our most powerful engineering tools come from unexpected places.
Always ask why: A journey from sports tech to food waste
Morten Keldebaek & Robert Christiansen CTO & VP Engineering, Too Good To Go
From a traffic spike that crashed their system during the 2018 World Cup to serving millions of users in 19 countries, Morten and Robert share how questioning everything, embracing incremental progress, and choosing proven technology have built a culture of pragmatic (and frugal) engineering at Too Good To Go—and kept millions of meals out of the trash.
Keeping the stories flowing at Warner Bros. Discovery
Tom Leaman VP of Site Reliability Engineering, Warner Bros. Discovery
With just nine months to launch Max and no room for downtime, Warner Bros. Discovery had to make every architectural decision count. This story follows how they built observability into their systems, made cost visible across engineering, and turned lessons from scaling missteps into a culture of discipline and resilience—so that when the world pressed play, things just worked.
Born from fire and frustration: Watch Duty keeps the tech simple
John Mills & David Merritt CEO & CTO, Watch Duty
Watch Duty's mission to deliver real-time emergency information works backward from a simple truth: during a disaster, people need clear, reliable updates to make life-critical decisions. When your focus is on outcomes, choosing boring technology and simple solutions isn't just pragmatic—it's what enables you to scale with confidence when lives depend on your system.
Cost-aware architectures for viewers like you
Mike Norton VP of Cloud Technologies, PBS
From constant firefighting in their tech operations, PBS faced the challenge of delivering cost-effective services while staying true to their mission. Mike shares how they shifted to fireproofing their systems, re-architecting for resilience, and cultivating a culture of frugality to better serve viewers like you.
A journey towards sustainable development at WeTransfer
Dan Conti Former CTO, WeTransfer
From humble beginnings in a Dutch studio, WeTransfer's rapid growth brought unexpected challenges in cloud scaling and environmental impact. Dan's narrative explores how they revisited past decisions to reduce digital waste, aligning their technological journey with a commitment to sustainability.
The Frugal Architect Podcast
Hosted by Amazon CTO Dr. Werner Vogels, listen to industry innovators as they share strategies for optimizing costs when designing for the cloud
The Ocean Cleanup's mantra: Start simple and iterate relentlessly
When Boyan Slat found more plastic than fish on a dive in Greece, he asked a simple question: "Why can't we just clean this up?" He was 16. What began as a humble project funded with pocket money has grown into a global initiative, removing millions of pounds of plastic from the world's rivers and oceans in the last decade. But simple questions don't always have simple solutions. As Boyan will tell you, simplicity is hard. Fight the temptation attack the biggest problem first. Relentlessly iterate. And most importantly, let your mission, not the technology, guide your engineering decisions.
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Zillow's Chief Architect on why cheap ≠ frugal
Frugality wasn't something Craig Link learned on the job, it was passed down from his father, who would calculate the cost-benefit of driving for cheaper gas and meticulously track every tank's miles per gallon in a worn notebook tucked into the glove box. He would also pack sandwiches, toss them in a cooler, and store them in the back seat. These were early lessons in trade-offs. Stopping less, spending less, meant more time doing the fun things, like being on vacation. This mindset proved invaluable throughout Craig's career, from optimizing every little bit for dial-up gamers to architecting Zillow's massive cloud transformation. It's a reminder that innovation doesn't come out of thin air, it often comes from paying attention to the little details, relentlessly questioning assumptions and giving teams the tools they need to optimize at every level of the business. In an era of explosive cloud growth, a frugal mindset might be your most valuable architecture tool.
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