The FDE Playbook
How OpenAI, Palantir and Sarvam approach forward deployed engineering: the role, hiring, team structure, evals, and taking AI from pilots into production.
- 94%
- of the room have, are building or are exploring an FDE capability
- 72%
- already have an FDE team or are actively building one
- 91%
- have found challenges in moving AI pilots into production
Three sessions, distilled into what leaders can act on. Six themes from the room in Bengaluru.
- 01
What defines an FDE
The Palantir perspective: FDE is a mindset before it is a job title, and the test of a good FDE function.
- 02
Hiring FDEs
The three traits to hire for, and where the role should sit in your organisation.
- 03
FDE in India
Deliver outcomes, not deliverables, and how one engineer reached crores of farmers in a single Rabi season.
- 04
Evals before agents
The Sarvam loop: build the eval suite before the agent, then hill-climb against it.
- 05
The agentic economy
Persistent agents, trust across every layer, and why you should be able to switch models in a day.
- 06
A leadership quiz
Ten questions to tell whether you are building an FDE engine or a services engine.
Practitioners from OpenAI, Palantir and Sarvam. Three sessions, one evening.
- Kautuk KhareThe FDE role, customer proximity, product development and team structure.
- Jayant TarapureFDEs in India, deployment at scale, and building reliable AI systems.
- Tara LodhAgentic systems, architecture, evaluations and model flexibility.
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The FDE Playbook · 17-page PDF
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The eventThe FDE Playbook, BengaluruThree sessions on forward deployed engineering, hosted by KnackLabs on 18 September 2026.About the event Questions
About the report
Is The FDE Playbook free?
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What is a forward deployed engineer?
A forward deployed engineer (FDE) works closely with customers to understand their real-world problems, builds solutions around their workflows, and takes those solutions into production. The role connects customer context, engineering and product development.
Who spoke at the FDE Playbook event?
Kautuk Khare of Palantir, on the FDE role, customer proximity, product development and team structure; Jayant Tarapure of Sarvam, on FDEs in India, deployment at scale and building reliable AI systems; and Tara Lodh of OpenAI, on agentic systems, architecture, evaluations and model flexibility. KnackLabs hosted the event in Bengaluru on 18 September 2026.
What are the key takeaways for leaders?
Five: keep builders close to the real workflow; give one owner the business context, engineering and production; turn what each deployment teaches into reusable product; own the architecture around the model (harness, evals, policy, identity); and track cost and time per deployment, fixing the loop if they are not falling by the third.
How many companies are building FDE teams?
In the room at the event, 94% have, are building or are exploring an FDE capability, and 72% already have an FDE team or are actively building one. 91% have found challenges in moving AI pilots into production.