Fractional forward deployed engineer · embedded, not outsourced

A fractional forward deployed engineer for your AI agents.

I join your team, sit with the people who have the problem, and ship AI agents into your real systems. Forward deployed engineering on a sprint or a retainer, without months of hiring.

Book a free scoping call 30 minutes · no prep needed
Model
Embedded 2–4 days a week
Retainer
$15–30K / month
Or a sprint
$30–60K fixed, 4–6 weeks
Ownership
Code in your GitHub from day one
Recent results
  • 62% order and refund tickets automated
  • 65% lower monthly LLM spend
  • 26h → 2 min lead response time
Proof

Shipped inside real teams and real systems.

All case studies

A good fit if

  • An AI startup selling to enterprises, with customers waiting on custom implementations your core team can't get to.
  • A company with an AI initiative that keeps stalling between the vendor demo and a system people actually use.
  • A team that wants FDE-style delivery now, and may hire its own forward deployed engineers later.

Not a fit if

  • You want advice and a slide deck, not code in production
  • The work is a one-off script with no users or systems attached
  • Nobody on your side can join calls or make decisions each week
Pricing

Embed for a sprint, or keep me on a retainer.

Both start with a free scoping call. No hourly billing.

Ship one agent · Embedded sprint
$30–60Kfixed · 4–6 weeks

One production agent built inside your team or your customer's systems, then handed over.

  • Discovery with the people who have the problem
  • Weekly demos with live traces and test scores
  • Human approval on risky actions
  • Docs, runbook and 30 days of fixes
See the Sprint
Every build includes
  • Embedded in your channels and calls
  • Evals before anything ships
  • Human sign-off on risky actions
  • Monitoring and alerts from launch
  • Code and docs in your GitHub
How it works

Embed in week one, ship in their systems.

  1. Week 0

    Scoping call (free)

    30 minutes on the customer or workflow that's stuck. You leave knowing whether an embedded engineer is the right fix.

  2. Week 1

    Embed and discover

    I join your channels, sit in on the customer or team calls, and map the real workflow. You approve a one-page scope and success metric.

  3. Build weeks

    Ship in their systems

    Working agents in the customer's or team's real tools, with a demo every week and evals from the first build.

  4. Handover

    Harden and hand over

    Monitoring, runbook and training, so your team or a future FDE hire can own it. Then 30 days of fixes.

What you don't risk
  • Free scoping call
  • No hourly surprises
  • 90-day exit on the retainer
  • You own everything I build
Compare

A fractional FDE vs hiring one, or a consultancy.

TopicHiring an FDE / a consultancyFractional FDE (me)
Time to startMonths to hire; weeks to staff a consultancyA free scoping call, then embedded from week one
Who writes the codeYour hire, or often not the consultancyMe, in your systems
CommitmentFull-time salary, or a long statement of workA sprint, or a retainer with a 90-day exit
Production habitsDepends on the person or firmEvals, approvals and monitoring from day one
What you keepDepends on the contractAll code, docs and tests, in your GitHub

Everything that's included

  • An engineer embedded with your team: in your Slack, your standups and your customer calls.
  • Production AI agents built in your systems and your GitHub, not a separate demo environment.
  • Discovery with the people who have the problem, turned into a one-page scope with a success metric.
  • Evals, human approval on risky actions, and monitoring before anything goes live.
  • A weekly demo of working software, plus a written update before your day starts.
  • Docs and handover so your team (or your future FDE hire) can take it over.

What I build with

The forward deployed part matters as much as the engineering. Most AI projects stall because nobody technical sits with the people who have the problem. I spend the first week in your team's or your customer's workflow, then build there, with the same production habits I use everywhere: evals, human approval on risky actions and live monitoring.
  • LangGraph
  • LangChain
  • Claude
  • OpenAI
  • MCP
  • Python
  • FastAPI
  • Postgres
  • pgvector
  • LangSmith
  • AWS
FAQ

Common questions.

Real questions from scoping calls. If yours isn't here, ask it on a free 30-minute call.

A forward deployed engineer works directly with the people who have a problem, inside their systems, and writes the production code that solves it. Fractional means you get that for part of the week or for a fixed project, instead of hiring someone full time. It suits teams that need FDE work now but aren't ready to add permanent headcount.

A consultant usually advises and hands over recommendations. A forward deployed engineer writes the code, ships it into your real systems and stays accountable until it works. I do the discovery a consultant would, then build the thing myself.

In-house FDEs are among the most expensive engineering hires in 2026, and take months to find. Working with me costs $15–30K a month on an embedded retainer, or $30–60K fixed for a production agent in 4–6 weeks. I don't bill by the hour.

Yes. For AI startups selling to enterprises, I can join customer calls and implementation work as part of your team, under your brand, so your core engineers stay on the product.

I'm based in Islamabad and overlap with US mornings. You get a written update before your day starts, a weekly demo in your morning, and decisions in writing so nothing waits for a meeting.

I stay the lead engineer and can add vetted engineers from the Ayraxs bench for larger programs, so you get more capacity without starting a new vendor relationship.

Tell me where the AI work is stuck. I'll tell you if embedding an engineer fixes it.

Book a free scoping call
What happens after you book
  1. A 30-minute call about your situation
  2. A one-page scope with price and timeline, free
  3. You decide: go ahead, or keep the scope and walk away