IIT Hyderabad Launches Forward Deployed Engineering Programme

IIT Hyderabad launches a three-month Forward Deployed Engineering programme for working professionals, covering AI deployment, agentic workflows, software integration and production engineering.

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad) has opened registrations for its Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) Practitioner Program, a three-month professional course designed to train engineers to develop, integrate and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) systems in real-world business environments. Offered through the institute's AI Launchpad, the programme begins on December 5, 2026, and targets professionals seeking to move AI applications from experimental prototypes to reliable production systems.

The programme addresses the growing demand for engineers who can connect AI technologies with existing software infrastructure, databases, application programming interfaces (APIs) and organisational workflows. Unlike courses focused primarily on AI model development, the FDE programme emphasises the complete deployment process, including customer requirements, system integration, testing, monitoring, security and operational adoption.

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The programme includes 52 planned sessions covering technical and practical aspects of forward deployed engineering. Participants will explore customer discovery, software engineering foundations, data integration, retrieval systems, agentic AI workflows, system evaluation, security, deployment and observability.

The learning structure combines lectures, guided laboratory sessions, research discussions led by IIT Hyderabad faculty and webinars featuring industry practitioners. Participants will also work on a team-based capstone project involving an enterprise AI workflow with evidence retrieval, human approval mechanisms and an audit trail.

The curriculum follows a Python-first, open-source technology stack, including FastAPI, PostgreSQL, LangGraph, Qdrant, Docker and OpenTelemetry. It aims to help participants understand how AI models, data pipelines, enterprise applications and business processes work together in operational environments.

The 13-week programme is primarily intended for software engineers, AI and machine learning professionals, data engineers, platform specialists and DevOps practitioners. Applicants are expected to have approximately two to three or more years of relevant experience, along with working knowledge of Python, APIs, databases, Git and Linux-based engineering workflows. Prior generative AI experience is not mandatory, as the programme introduces relevant concepts through practical learning.

The course runs from December 5, 2026, to February 27, 2027, according to its tentative calendar. It is delivered online, with optional campus immersion opportunities at IIT Hyderabad. The programme includes 156 live learning hours, with approximately 12 hours of scheduled sessions each week, in addition to independent assignments and capstone work.

The standard programme fee is ₹1 lakh plus applicable taxes. An early-bird fee of ₹90,000 plus taxes is available for the first 20 registrations. Participants who fulfil the programme requirements will receive an IIT Hyderabad certificate.

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The programme is led by Dr. Praveen Tammana from IIT Hyderabad's Department of Computer Science and Engineering, with contributions from faculty members Dr. Ashish Mishra, Dr. Anupam Sanghi and Dr. Abhijit Das. N. V. S. S. Koundinya, an AI solution architect, serves as the industry lead.

Through this initiative, IIT Hyderabad aims to strengthen practical AI engineering capabilities and prepare professionals to manage the technical and organisational challenges involved in deploying AI solutions. Interested candidates can access programme details and registration information through the institute's AI Launchpad website.