Decagon's CTO on Forward-Deployed Engineering

StartupHub.ai · 2026-07-28 · 1 min read

Summary

In a StartupHub.ai interview, Decagon CTO Sunny Rekhi explains how the AI agent company uses forward-deployed engineering. He traces how the model evolved as Decagon grew, describes FDE teams' dual role building solutions and working closely with customers, and stresses designing for scalability rather than one-off custom work, with the goal of empowering customers to run the product themselves.

Key points

Decagon CTO Sunny Rekhi explains the company's forward-deployed engineering model.
FDE teams play a dual role: building solutions and partnering with customers.
The model evolved as Decagon scaled, not fixed from day one.
Scalability matters: avoid becoming a pure custom-services shop.
Success means empowering customers to operate the product independently.

Full text

Artificial Intelligence

Decagon's CTO on Forward-Deployed Engineering

Decagon's CTO, Sunny Rekhi, details the company's forward-deployed engineering model, highlighting its evolution, the dual role of its teams, and the importance of scalability and customer empowerment.

By Daniel Singer, Editor, StartupHub.ai

4 min read

Sunny Rekhi, CTO of Decagon, presenting at AI Engineer World's Fair.

Contents(5)

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DecagonDR 74 · Agent 54AI-powered customer support platform that uses autonomous AI agents to resolve complex customer inquiries.

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Editor, StartupHub.ai

Daniel Singer is the editor of StartupHub.ai, a technology expert and thought leader on AI and its applications across sectors, from fintech and healthcare to developer tooling and consumer software. He writes and tests the tools covered here thoroughly and regularly, and built StartupHub.ai to give founders, operators and buyers a clearer read on what they are actually being sold.

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