Become a Forward Deployed Engineer

Hosted by Aki Wijesundara and Manu Jayawardana

Sun, Oct 18, 2026

10:00 PM UTC (30 minutes)

Virtual (Zoom)

Free to join

Invite your network

Go deeper with a course

AI Engineering Bootcamp and Certificate: Build and Ship Production AI Agents
Dr. Aki Wijesundara and Manu Jayawardana
View syllabus

What you'll learn

Tell whether your background maps to the role

Compare your experience against what these teams actually hire for.

Describe client-facing work in interview terms

Frame consulting and delivery experience so it reads as engineering strength.

Prepare for the messy-systems questions

Get ready for the scenarios that define the loop for this role.

Why this topic matters

Forward deployed engineering is one of the fastest-growing AI roles and one of the least understood. You embed with a client, ship AI inside their real systems, and earn trust on the ground while requirements move around you. It pays well and suits a specific kind of engineer. This session covers what the job is and whether it is yours.

You'll learn from

Aki Wijesundara

AI Advisor | Educator | Google AI Accelerator Alum

Aki Wijesundara is an AI leader with a PhD in Machine Learning and extensive experience mentoring startups at Google’s AI Accelerator. With a career spanning both research and applied AI, Aki has taught 5,000+ students worldwide how to design and deploy production-ready AI systems.

He has worked across cutting-edge areas of applied AI, from LangChain and RAG pipelines to observability and large-scale deployment. As a researcher and educator, Aki bridges the gap between theory and practice, making complex systems approachable and actionable for engineers, founders, and product leaders.

Aki is also a frequent speaker and advisor to organizations adopting AI, helping them transition from experimentation to production at scale.

Manu Jayawardana

AI Founder | CEO at TAI Labs | Co-Founder of Snapdrum

Manu Jayawardana is a serial entrepreneur with multiple AI startup successes.

He is also the Co-Founder of Snapdrum, an AI consultancy helping companies integrate and automate their businesses using AI. Through Snapdrum, Manu has worked with top startups and enterprises across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, advising on automation, product development, and AI strategy.

Currently, Manu is the Co-Founder & CEO of Krybe, an AI voice agent startup in London transforming how businesses automate customer interactions. His experience spans fundraising, scaling products, and leading teams to deliver production-grade AI solutions adopted globally.

See all products from TAI Labs

Sign up to join this lesson

By continuing, you agree to Maven's Terms and Privacy Policy.