Cloud Cost Optimization: Deepak Mittal at the Helm of CloudKeeper’s Global Journey

Cloud has become the backbone of modern business, but spiralling costs often undermine its promise. To tackle this challenge, companies are turning to cloud cost optimization strategies that go beyond dashboards, combining tools, services, and expert guidance.

At the forefront is Deepak Mittal, CEO of CloudKeeper, who has positioned the company as a trusted cloud cost management platform for enterprises and hypergrowth startups alike.

In this interview, Mittal explains how CloudKeeper’s cutting-edge cloud cost optimization tools, from Tuner to Lens, are reshaping FinOps, how multi-cloud adoption is changing strategies, and why practical, predictive innovation is key to the future of AI-powered cloud optimization. 

CloudKeeper offers products like Tuner, Lens, and Auto. How are these innovations changing cloud optimisation? 

Mittal: AI is not just some fad, something like NFTs or VR that may or may not become mainstream. We genuinely see it changing the way businesses work, not years later, but right now. 

At CloudKeeper, we’re using AI where it makes a difference. Tuner provides smart, usage-based optimisation recommendations and automates fixes across 50+ AWS services. Work that would normally take a big team weeks to analyse is now done instantly. 

Lens, on the other hand, is evolving into more of a cost visibility assistant, a CloudGPT of sorts. You can simply ask what’s driving your AWS costs this week and get custom dashboards, reports, or insights on demand. Together, these cloud cost optimization tools simplify decision-making and deliver faster, more accurate outcomes. 

Multi-cloud adoption is growing. What challenges do clients face, and how do you help them? 

Mittal: The shift to multi-cloud is accelerating, but it’s not easy. The biggest challenge is visibility; when teams are spread across different clouds, it becomes a nightmare to get a unified view of spend, usage, and performance. Lens helps solve this by giving teams real-time visibility from a single dashboard. 

Then there’s the skill gap. Multi-cloud requires specialised knowledge across platforms, and most teams don’t have that luxury overnight. That’s why we provide expert consulting and hands-on support for migrations and modernisation. 

Troubleshooting is another big hurdle. Issues can arise in the middle of the night across time zones, and when you’re juggling multiple clouds, complexity only increases. Our 24×7 support team acts like an extended arm, fast, responsive, and platform-aware. 

And finally, multi-cloud cost governance can get messy. Choosing which plan works best on which cloud is time-consuming. With CloudKeeper AZ, our clients access savings they usually wouldn’t qualify for, without worrying about complex lock-ins. 

You support both AWS and Google Cloud. How do companies differ in using and optimising these platforms? 

Mittal: The goals are the same: better performance at lower cost, but the approaches differ. AWS is the go-to for enterprises looking for breadth and control. It’s incredibly mature, offers the largest service catalogue, and gives companies deep flexibility. Businesses with complex hybrid environments often gravitate to AWS. Optimisation here involves fine-tuning usage across a sprawling set of services, where our AWS cost intelligence and expert advisory make a real difference. 

Google Cloud, on the other hand, is increasingly popular with organisations pushing the envelope on data, AI, and modern app development. BigQuery, GKE, and Vertex AI are standout offerings. Startups and digital-native businesses often choose GCP for innovation. Optimisation here focuses on sustained usage, choosing the right architecture patterns upfront, and right-sizing Kubernetes clusters. 

From a pricing perspective, GCP’s per-minute billing and automatic sustained use discounts are attractive, while AWS still leads in enterprise-scale discounts and customisation options. Our role is to help clients navigate these trade-offs, ensuring their cloud cost optimization strategies align with workloads and business goals. 

Generative AI is making waves. How is CloudKeeper leveraging AI for smarter outcomes? 

Mittal: We’re seeing GenAI become a natural part of how cloud teams work. At CloudKeeper, we’ve already built internal GenAI agents for customer success and sales support, making day-to-day operations faster and more efficient. 

For clients, we’re embedding AI into both Tuner and Lens. Soon, customers will have predictive insights, guided recommendations, and even dedicated services for GenAI-based workloads. The aim is AI-powered cloud optimization that saves time, reduces waste, and enables smarter decisions at scale. 

CloudKeeper’s product portfolio is expanding rapidly. How do you decide what to build next? 

Mittal: Our innovation roadmap is shaped by two things, market signals and customer voice. In fact, CloudKeeper itself was born from a customer need. Back when we were offering AWS managed services through TO THE NEW, a client asked us for help optimising their cloud costs. We realised many others faced the same challenge, and CloudKeeper was born. 

Since then, we’ve continued to listen closely to our customers while anticipating where the market is heading. For example, we launched CloudKeeper Auto, an AI-powered automated RI management tool, in 2022, well before GenAI became mainstream. 

Similarly, when customers asked for Lens insights and support within their workflows, we built a Slack integration to bring FinOps closer to daily operations. Looking ahead, you can expect more innovations that blend proactive market understanding with real customer needs, whether that’s in AI-led automation, deeper integrations, or platform intelligence. 

With rapid U.S. expansion, how do you see CloudKeeper’s role evolving in the North American market? 

Mittal: North America is a dynamic and highly competitive cloud market, home to many of the world’s top cloud players, emerging tech innovators, and some of the leading names in our own domain. That makes it both exciting and demanding. 

For us, it’s a space that keeps us on our toes, driving us to constantly evolve our platforms, deepen our FinOps capabilities, and explore new frontiers in digital transformation through FinOps. With strong local leadership and growing momentum, we’re building meaningful partnerships and delivering tangible impact across the region.