Industry Applications
IBM's Forward Deployed Unit: Why a Pod, Not a Single Engineer, Delivers Enterprise AI
IBM Consulting's Forward Deployed Unit (FDU) is a multidisciplinary team, or "pod," embedded with clients to operationalize AI. This model contrasts with the solo Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), arguing that enterprise AI transformation requires a coordinated team approach.
Rui Almeida·November 7, 2026