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KINTO

Forward deployed engineering

Forward deployed engineering (FDE) is a model in which software engineers work inside a customer's own systems and data to build and run solutions in production, instead of advising from outside. KINTO practices it, with approval or validation before anything moves money.

How it works

Engineers inside your operation

KINTO's engineers start from the client's real systems, not from a brief.

How a KINTO forward deployed engineer works Six moves, each one visible in a published case, with approval or validation before anything moves money.
  1. Read the operation as it is Audit conversations, inventory an ERP, segment a year of invoices.
  2. Measure before building Match each order to its real source so the first build answers a verified problem.
  3. Build, read-only first Agents start by reading. What moves money or changes the books or the ad accounts is approved by a person or validated against the previous system before it goes live; routine work that code can verify runs on its own.
  4. Code decides what code can Dates, prices and stock come from authoritative data, not a model's guess.
  5. Approval or validation before money moves What moves money or changes the books or the ad accounts is approved by a person or validated against the previous system; exceptions go to a person.
  6. Write down what is not known Every case ends with what KINTO could not establish.

Connections

  • Read the operation as it is → Measure before building
  • Measure before building → Build, read-only first
  • Build, read-only first → Code decides what code can
  • Code decides what code can → Approval or validation before money moves (money, books or ad accounts)
  • Code decides what code can → Write down what is not known (routine operations code can verify)
  • Approval or validation before money moves → Write down what is not known

The term comes from Palantir, which says it pioneered the role and describes it as embedding engineers directly with customers. AI companies now use it for engineers who deploy models inside a customer’s workflows. In Spanish-speaking markets the job title is usually kept in English; “ingeniero desplegado” is a plain description of it.

What a KINTO forward deployed engineer does

KINTO’s engineers start from the client’s real systems, not from a brief. Each step below appears in a published case.

  • Read the operation as it is. Audit hundreds of customer conversations, inventory every service of an ERP, or segment a full year of invoices.
  • Measure before building. Match each order to its real source, or cross-check leases against their documents, so the first build answers a verified problem.
  • Build in production, read-only first. Agents start by reading. What moves money or changes the books or the ad accounts is approved by a person or validated against the previous system before it goes live. Routine work that code can verify, like an order against live stock, runs on its own and escalates exceptions.
  • Let code decide what code can decide. Delivery dates, prices and stock come from authoritative data, not from a language model’s guess.
  • Write down what is not known. Every case ends with what KINTO could not establish.

Where product hacking and growth fit

KINTO’s product hacking and growth is this method applied to a growth question, a subset of KINTO’s forward deployed engineering: find the lever in the client’s own data, then build the smallest change that moves it. The engineering is forward deployed because the lever lives in the client’s conversations, ERP and sales data, not in a template.

How it differs from an agency, a consultancy or outsourcing

  • An agency delivers a campaign, a site or a creative asset and hands it over. KINTO’s engineers also operate what they build and measure it against the client’s own data.
  • A consultancy delivers analysis and a recommendation. KINTO delivers the working system and the analysis behind it.
  • Outsourcing supplies developers who follow a specification. KINTO’s engineers decide what to build after reading the operation. What moves money or changes the books or the ad accounts is approved by a person or validated against the previous system before it goes live; routine work that code can verify runs on its own.

What it looks like in published cases

  • A sports e-commerce brand: KINTO audited hundreds of conversations and matched every order in the analysis window to its analytics session, then built a WhatsApp sales agent and an ad governor that changes things only under an approved plan.
  • A real estate firm: KINTO inventoried the ERP and ran read-only audits before adding an agent layer; ERP writes go through a queue that a person approves.
  • A logistics operator: KINTO replaced a system more than two decades old and a macro-driven spreadsheet with an agentic ERP, validated waybill by waybill against the old system.
  • A food manufacturer: KINTO segmented a year of invoices to find which customers carried the business, then put a WhatsApp sales agent in production whose delivery date is computed by code.

What KINTO does not claim

KINTO does not publish the size of its team, client names or certifications on this page. Results are stated as each case measured them, with their source and with what is still unknown. To see how this would look in your operation, contact KINTO.

The difference

Agency, consultancy, outsourcing or FDE

What each model delivers
  1. An agency

    Delivers
    A campaign, a site or a creative asset.
    And then
    Hands it over.
  2. A consultancy

    Delivers
    An analysis and a recommendation.
  3. Outsourcing

    Delivers
    Developers who follow a specification.
  4. KINTO, forward deployed

    Delivers
    The working system and the analysis behind it.
    And then
    Operates what it builds and measures it against the client's own data. Decides what to build after reading the operation; what moves money or changes the books or the ad accounts is approved by a person or validated against the previous system before it goes live.
Case studies

Related case studies

Frequently asked questions
What is forward deployed engineering (FDE)?

Forward deployed engineering is a model where engineers work inside a customer's own systems and data to build and run solutions in production, instead of advising from outside. Palantir says it pioneered the role, and it is now common at AI companies. KINTO applies it to WhatsApp sales, ERP, catalog and ad spend, with approval or validation before anything moves money.

Is KINTO's product hacking the same as forward deployed engineering?

Not exactly. KINTO's product hacking is its forward deployed engineering applied to a growth question: it starts from the client's own data to find where growth is stuck, then builds the smallest change that tests it. Forward deployed engineering is the wider way of working; product hacking is its growth-focused part.

How is KINTO's FDE different from an agency or a consultancy?

An agency delivers a campaign or a site, and a consultancy delivers a recommendation. KINTO's engineers build and operate the system inside the client's operation, starting read-only, with approval or validation before anything moves money. Its published cases state what was measured and what is still unknown.

What access does a KINTO engineer need to your systems?

KINTO starts read-only: it reads conversations, ERP records, invoices or ad accounts to diagnose before it builds. What moves money or changes the books or the ad accounts is approved by a person or validated against the previous system before it goes live; routine work that code can verify runs on its own. Scope and access are agreed after the diagnosis.

Have a problem like this?

Tell KINTO what is going on. The first conversation is to understand it, not to sell.