Forward Deployed

npx add-mcp 'https://forwardeployed.work/mcp'

Questions about Forward Deployed, answered.

How Forward Deployed replaces software and consulting spend, how the AI Workforce works inside your AI assistant, how pricing and approvals work, how to bring in an expert, and how your work is kept private.

Why Forward Deployed

What is an instant firm?

A firm you can put to work the moment you need it. There's no intro call, proposal, contract round or kickoff: you ask in Claude, ChatGPT or any AI assistant, see the exact price, approve it, and the work starts. Instant means you start right away; how long the work itself takes depends on the job, and you can bring in one of our experts, your own guest or another AI specialist whenever it helps.

How is Forward Deployed different from forward-deployed engineers or a performance-improvement team?

Forward-deployed engineers (FDEs) and performance-improvement teams embed their people in your company to make the change for you, and your team spends its time supporting them: briefing, sitting in workshops, reviewing their output. When they leave, much of what they learned leaves with them. Forward Deployed works the other way round. Your team gets the capacity, the method and the experts inside the AI assistant they already use, so your people lead the work, keep what they learn, and take the credit.

How does Forward Deployed replace software and consulting spend?

With the instant firm inside Claude, ChatGPT or any AI assistant. One connector brings capacity to do the work (the AI Workforce), method to do it right (leading practice built into every task) and a human expert when it matters. You get the outcomes you wanted from software, consultants and managed services, with no licenses, no retainers and no billable hours: every job is priced in tokens before it runs, and you pay only for the work it uses.

Is Forward Deployed another AI tool?

No. An AI tool automates a task, and you work out the method. Forward Deployed changes how your company gets help: best practice is built into every service, advisors and experts join the same conversation, every paid job is priced, approved and on record, and it works inside the AI assistant you already use.

Who does the work: people or the AI Workforce?

The AI Workforce does the work. People advise, validate and sign off: your team leads, and Forward Deployed advisors or approved experts step in when judgment matters.

What's on the roadmap?

Knowledge work on demand is available today. Coming, in order: work that comes back every week, month or quarter running by itself; functions you used to outsource kept always on, with licensed experts signing off where the law requires; and in time, the multi-month engagement replaced. None of these is available yet, and the roadmap shows the order they come in.

The basics

What is Forward Deployed?

Forward Deployed is the instant firm inside Claude, ChatGPT or any AI assistant: capacity to do the work, method to do it right and a human expert when it matters, in place of software licenses, consulting fees and managed services. You describe a job in your own chat, such as a market sizing, a strategy review or an investment committee memo, and the AI Workforce delivers it as Word, Excel, PowerPoint or interactive files, saved in your engagement.

What is the AI Workforce?

The AI Workforce is the AI that does the work at Forward Deployed, and every service it runs starts from a proven method. It asks for what it needs, works from your documents and data, and records its assumptions and open questions. See the outcomes it delivers.

Who is Forward Deployed for?

Forward Deployed is for teams that need expert-grade work without buying another tool or hiring another firm: strategy and leadership teams, private equity and deal teams, finance and transformation teams, and marketing and product teams. You can work alone, with colleagues, or with guests you invite.

What services does Forward Deployed offer?

Finished work you would otherwise buy from software vendors and consultants: research reports, strategy reviews, financial models and investment memos, board decks and more. It comes from five practices, AI Transformation, Research & Intelligence, Business Consulting, Financial Advisory & M&A and Marketing & Communications, with Digital & Technology coming soon. The services page lists every service with what you provide and every file you get back.

Does Forward Deployed browse the web?

Desk research reads public sources and cites them, and a source pack reads only the links you give it. Simulations and deliverables don't browse the web: they work from your brief, your files and the AI Workforce's knowledge, and you can attach a desk research report when current market data matters.

Getting started

How do I connect Forward Deployed to my AI assistant?

Add https://forwardeployed.work/mcp as a connector in your AI assistant, then sign in with your work email when it asks. On the consent page you choose your organization, or create one, and allow access. After that, describe the job in your chat and the assistant shows the matching services.

Which AI assistants work with Forward Deployed?

Forward Deployed works in Claude, ChatGPT or any AI assistant that lets you add a connector by its address. You connect once with https://forwardeployed.work/mcp and sign in; the same organization, engagements and files are available from whichever assistant you use.

Do I need to install anything?

No. Forward Deployed runs as a connector inside the AI assistant you already use, and the Forward Deployed portal, where you manage members, billing and files, opens in your browser at forwardeployed.work.

Pricing and approvals

How does Forward Deployed pricing work?

You pay for the AI work a job actually uses, measured in credits, instead of paying for hours. Every job shows its price and a maximum before it runs, nothing paid starts until it's approved, and you're never charged more than the approved maximum. See indicative prices.

What is a credit worth?

One credit is $0.10. You buy credits in advance through secure checkout in the portal, and each job's charge draws from your organization's balance. Indicative prices for common jobs are on the pricing page, and each job shows the exact amount.

Can a job cost more than its approved price?

No. Approving a job holds its maximum, and the final charge never exceeds that hold. You're charged what the job used, and the rest of the hold is released. If a job fails, unused credits are released too.

Who approves spending?

Each person has an automatic limit. Above it, another authorized person in your organization approves the job, and nobody can approve their own job above their limit. Jobs that hold 500 credits or more, by default, also ask for a fresh sign-in first.

Experts and guests

Can I bring in a Forward Deployed advisor?

Yes. Ask us, and a Forward Deployed advisor requests access to your organization. An owner or admin approves exactly which engagements they see, they're always labelled as Forward Deployed staff, and you can remove their access at any time, which ends it immediately.

Can I invite my own expert?

Yes. Owners and admins invite advisors, clients or specialists by email as guests, from the portal or from the AI assistant. A guest sees only the engagements they're added to, and can't create engagements or spend credits unless you allow it.

What is an approved expert?

A specialist who applied to Forward Deployed and was approved by us. Only approved experts can be brought into your work, you decide what they see, and everything they do is on record.

How is expert support priced?

Like everything at Forward Deployed, in credits. Expert support is priced and agreed with you before any time is billed, just as the AI Workforce's paid jobs are priced and approved before they run.

How do I become a Forward Deployed expert?

Apply through the experts page. Experts apply, we approve, and only approved experts can be brought in. We review every application and reply by email.

Security and privacy

Who can see my engagements?

Only the people invited to them. Each engagement and conversation is private to its members, every organization's data is walled off at the database level, and owners see who joined, what changed and who approved what.

Is my data used to train AI models?

No. We don't use your data to train AI models. Your data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and your documents, messages and deliverables stay in your organization's engagements.

What happens to my data if I close my organization?

When you close your organization, its data is deleted within 30 days after closure.

Who is behind Forward Deployed?

Ockham Labs Inc., based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Forward Deployed is in beta. You can reach us at support@forwardeployed.work or through the contact form.

Still have a question?

Send us a note and we'll reply by email, or add Forward Deployed to your AI assistant and ask it what we can do.

Connector address

https://forwardeployed.work/mcp