The delivery platform for pods, forward-deployed engineers, and agents
One engineer is not the unit of delivery. The pod is.
Senior engineers embedded inside the client environment, agents doing most of the typing, named people holding every gate, governed software shipping from the first weeks. That is what a pod does. This is the system it runs on: seats, a ladder, waves, a method, and a weekly readout, each a record rather than a slide.
One role, four ways to deploy
The forward-deployed engineer is the unit. The pod is how it scales.
Same engineers, same ladder, same method at every scale. Buy the shape the work needs, and change shapes as it grows.
- Solo FDEOne engineer, whole loop. A single senior engineer embedded in an existing team: requirements, build, integration, and stakeholders in one person. The fastest way to put AI depth into a squad, or to own one scoped workflow end to end.
- Embedded PairFDE and architect. Assessment, the estate map, and the first working workflow. Two people, two to four weeks, and a credible plan grounded in working software.
- Build PodFive seats, anchored. The standard unit for delivery programs: a lead, an architect, and builders with the full method inside. One governed workflow to production at a time.
- Pod ProgramMany pods, one layer. Spanning architects, benchmark quality gates, weekly readouts, and builder waves through the training pipeline. Program leadership included.
- src/lib/pods/model.ts
- supabase/migrations/20260905100000_pods.sql
The build pod, drawn
Five seats inside your operating frame, and the machine behind them.
A pod is composed of seats. Each seat is a role, the rung it requires, a posture, and a wave. A seat is held by a member, a named agent, or the client, or it is open, and the register says which.
Your operating frame · product owner · cadence · backlog · ceremonies · program reporting
Build pod · five seats · one governed workflow to production at a time
- 1FDE LeadThe outcome, the cadence, the stakeholders. Carries the engagement-management function: no separate project-manager layer.
- 2FDE ArchitectSystem design, estate integration, model strategy. One architect can span two pods.
- 3Senior FDEAgent design, typed tooling, the complex workflows. Mentors the FDE seats in the pod.
- 4FDELLM workflows, copilots, and automation built inside the client environment.
- 5FDE + EvaluationEvaluation sets, protected-data gate evidence, shadow-mode readouts. The seat that makes governed AI provable.
Behind every pod, off the order: Data & Integration · Security & Compliance SME · benchmark quality gates · training pipeline waves.
Included across every pod: Engagement Executive · Chief FDE Architect.
Where a program specifies them: Agile Delivery Manager (Scrum master) · Agile Program Manager (Release train engineer).
- Complete podEvery seat is ours. Full method, single accountability, fastest to production quality.
- Anchored podWe hold the lead, the architect, and one or two builders. Flex seats stay the client's; the pod still runs our method end to end.
- Certified seatsBenchmarked engineers into pods the client runs. Fastest fill for an order; an architect stays on call across seats.
Every pod is anchored by a lead. The database refuses the anchored and delivering states until a member of the workspace holds the lead seat. A client-held or agent-held lead is not an anchor.
Every seat named. Every level earned.
The roles, the market titles they answer to, and the ladder behind them.
Levels come from working builds on a benchmark, not from resumes. Every seat carries the titles a job order uses, so a procurement reader finds themselves.
The ladder: Associate FDE → FDE I → FDE II → FDE Lead → FDE Architect. The two principal rungs are peers, not steps.
- FDE LeadThe outcome, the cadence, the stakeholders. Carries the engagement-management function: no separate project-manager layer.Engagement lead · Delivery lead · Consulting lead
- FDE ArchitectSystem design, estate integration, model strategy. One architect can span two pods.AI solution architect · GenAI architect
- Senior FDEAgent design, typed tooling, the complex workflows. Mentors the FDE seats in the pod.Senior GenAI engineer · Agentic AI engineer
- FDELLM workflows, copilots, and automation built inside the client environment.Forward Deployed Engineer · GenAI engineer · AI engineer
- FDE + EvaluationEvaluation sets, protected-data gate evidence, shadow-mode readouts. The seat that makes governed AI provable.AI quality engineer · QA, modernized
- Data & IntegrationPipelines and connectors behind the onsite team.Data engineer · Integration engineer
- Security & Compliance SMECISO-led review and audit-ready evidence when the work demands it.Security engineer · GRC specialist
- Agile Delivery ManagerThe scrum function for one pod, where the program specifies it.Scrum master
- Agile Program ManagerOne per three to five pods, release-train style, where the program specifies it.Release train engineer
- Engagement ExecutiveExecutive ownership of the program relationship, onsite for setup and critical phases.Engagement partner · Client executive
- Chief FDE ArchitectArchitecture and method consistency across every pod in the program.Chief architect · Principal AI architect
Outside, your process. Inside, the method.
Agents accelerate every stage. People hold every gate.
The outer frame belongs to the client and the pod slots under it without duplicating it. The inner frame is the method: requirements, design, code, and tests generated as auditable artifacts at every rung, and a person signing every consequential decision.
- 01Spec and PRDcontext engineered
- 02Agentic buildtyped tools only
- 03Protected-data gateno model sees protected data without clearance
- 04Evaluation setsmeasured behavior
- 05Human gatea person signs every consequential decision
- 06Shadow modelive data, no risk
- 07Productionsigned live by the accountable officer
Protected data never reaches a model without clearance. A person signs every consequential decision. The audit trail is a byproduct of the work, not an afterthought. SprintLoop records the gates; it does not run the agents and does not execute a build.
How pods ramp, and what they read out
Anchors land day one. Builders fill in waves. Every week, one readout.
Illustrated, never promised, until sized against a role list. Each wave prints seats held of seats defined. Each week, the pod writes progress against the backlog, gates cleared of gates owed, risks, and the decisions owed to a named person.
- Wave oneLead and architect seat first, on every pod. The pod is anchored the day a member holds the lead seat.
- Builder wavesSenior FDE, FDE, and the evaluation seat fill from the bench and the training pipeline, so anchors never wait on volume.
- Flex seatsThe client fills them from its own bench and they work under the pod's method. They read as held by the client, never as ours.
- The readoutOne per pod per ISO week, authored by a signed-in person, gates as a count beside its denominator. The register says when this week's is owed.
- The proposalA role list turned into a staffed shape, with the commitments made on the record. Sent and decided by named people; once sent, its terms are what was sent.
- src/app/app/[org]/pods/[key]/page.tsx
- src/app/app/[org]/engagements/[key]/page.tsx
Send us a role list or a workflow.
A pod is composed from a shape, staffed seat by seat, anchored by a lead, and read out weekly. The proposal that staffed it, the seats that hold it, and the gates it cleared are one record.