Databricks announced the launch of its Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) organization, formalizing an engineering-led approach designed to help customers achieve business outcomes with artificial intelligence.
The new organization brings together Databricks’ Professional Services capabilities under a single framework focused on accelerating customer AI initiatives. According to the company, more than 1,900 customers have worked with Databricks teams over the past 12 months on projects ranging from AI-assisted migrations to the development of production-grade AI applications.
Databricks said customer needs have evolved from requests centered on data migrations and pipeline development to broader business challenges, prompting the company to shift from traditional consulting handoffs toward embedded engineering teams focused on measurable outcomes.
The FDE model combines the Databricks Lakehouse platform with engineering-led delivery, a global network of partners, and direct collaboration with Databricks’ research and development teams. The company said the approach allows engineers to work alongside customers and extend the platform when required.
Fox Corporation partnered with Databricks engineers to redesign fan experiences across FOX Sports and FOX One using technologies including Lakebase, AI Search, Databricks Apps, and Model Serving. Databricks said the effort resulted in users of Sports AI spending approximately twice as much time within the app.
JPMorgan Chase’s Consumer & Community Banking division used Databricks’ FDE team to migrate more than five petabytes of risk data and over 500 notebooks in four months while training more than 600 users on the platform.
Qualcomm also leveraged the approach to move from isolated AI experiments to a production-grade agentic model, reducing workflows that previously took days to just minutes.
Databricks said the FDE model emphasizes shared objectives and key results (OKRs), embedded engineering teams, faster time-to-value, milestone-based pricing, and access to specialized expertise through its partner ecosystem.
The company plans to showcase the organization at the Data + AI Summit (DAIS) on June 15 and said it is continuing to hire engineers to support production AI deployments across industries.
KEY QUOTES:
“Building production AI for Fox Corporation means building for passionate fans, around live moments, at massive scale. Our partnership with Databricks FDE brought engineers, not just a platform. Working side-by-side with our FOX engineering teams, Databricks helped us redesign the fan experience across FOX Sports and FOX One using Lakebase, AI Search, Databricks Apps, and Model Serving. The impact has been measurable, with users who engage with Sports AI spending approximately 2X more time in the app, demonstrating how AI-driven experiences can deepen fan engagement at scale. This collaboration accelerated the pace of innovation, bringing AI features to market to drive real time, real world impact.”
Melody Hildebrandt, Chief Technology Officer, FOX
“We didn’t need more consultants, we needed engineers who could build what didn’t exist yet. The Databricks FDE team migrated five-plus petabytes of CCB Risk data and 500+ notebooks in four months, trained 600+ of our users on the platform, and accelerated our broader migration beyond the original scope. They cleared the runway for our AI strategy, and we’re continuing to partner to build on this foundation.”
Bala Vadhiyar, Chief Technology Officer, Consumer & Community Banking, JPMorgan Chase
