About this event
What FDE looks like when AI meets the enterprise.
AI is moving from experimentation into production, and with it, Forward-Deployed Engineering (FDE) is emerging as a critical operating model for AI companies working with enterprise customers.
FDE sits at the intersection of product, engineering, and the customer — translating complex real-world requirements into AI systems that work in production while feeding field learnings back into the product.
Join KnackLabs, with Sarvam, for a focused evening with founders, CTOs, and technology leaders exploring how FDE teams are built, how they work with customers, and what it takes to scale AI deployments.
Discussion areas
- Building an FDE function
- FDE across product, engineering & customers
- Balancing custom work with scalable product
- Moving AI from pilot to production
- Scaling FDE teams and processes
- Lessons from the field
What to expect
- Real-world FDE insights
- Executive perspectives
- Candid peer discussion
- Practical lessons from AI deployments
- Curated networking with technology leaders
Highlights
How the day actually went
Agenda
How the afternoon runs
6:00 PM
6:00 – 6:30 PM | Welcome & Networking
Arrival, refreshments, and conversations with founders, technology leaders, and decision-makers.
6:30 PM
6:30 – 7:00 PM | Keynote - Kautuk Khare, Forward Deployed Engineer, Palantir Technologies The FDE Advantage in Enterprise AI
Key lessons from 15 years of being an FDE at Palantir.
7:00 PM
7:00 – 7:30 PM | Session - Jayant Tarapure, GTM and Strategy, Sarvam
Playbook to Building FDE Organization in India
7:30 PM
7:30 – 8:00 PM | Session - Tara Lodh, AI Deployment Engineer, Open AI
The Agentic Economy: Architecture Evolution.
8:00 PM
8:00 – 9:00 PM | Dinner & Networking
Dinner & Networking An open Q&A and exchange of perspectives with the speakers and attendees.
Who it’s for
A curated room
- Founders & CEOs
- CTOs & CIOs
- Engineering Leaders Product Leaders
- AI & ML Leaders
- Enterprise Technology Leaders
- AI & Transformation Decision-Makers
Speakers
Who you’ll be in the room with
KK
Kautuk Khare
Forward Deployed Engineer, Palantir Technologies
JT
Jayant Tarapure
GTM and Strategy, Sarvam, Sarvam AI
TL
Tara Lodh
AI Deployed Engineer, Open AI
Hosted with
SA
Sarvam AIPast events
Where we’ve already been
The last ten events we ran. Recaps link through where we’ve written one up.
Field Event
The FDE Playbook: How to Build and Grow Your FDE Team
An evening with forward deployed engineers from Palantir, OpenAI and Sarvam on how to build and grow an FDE team — followed by dinner with a small group of peers in Bengaluru.
Friday, 18 September 2026 · Bengaluru, India
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Roundtable
Claude: From AI to ROI | Curated for Fintech Leaders
Wednesday, 9 September 2026 · Mumbai, India.
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Meetup
LangChain Community: Architecting Modern AI Systems: Patterns, Workflows & Scale
Saturday, 22 August 2026 · Hyderabad, India
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Meetup
LangChain Community: AI Coworkers, Agent Fleets & Autonomous Systems
Saturday, 25 July 2026 · Hyderabad
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Roundtable
CCCL Hyderabad: AI for Leaders
An evening well spent exchanging practical insights on enterprise AI. Exploring high-impact Claude workflows, implementation challenges, and strategies for turning AI into measurable business outcomes.
Friday, 3 July 2026 · Hyderabad
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