Anthropic backs phData, which plans to add 300+ data and AI experts and delivers Claude work through forward-deployed engineers

phData, a Minneapolis data and AI services firm with more than 900 staff across the US, Latin America and India, announced on October 28 a new funding round from existing investor Gryphon Investors, with Anthropic participating. The amount was not disclosed. phData is a member of the Claude Partner Network, Anthropic's program for firms that help enterprises put Claude into production.

The company says it will use the money to add more than 300 data and AI experts and expand its services. Its announcement describes the delivery model plainly: forward-deployed engineers and strategists work inside the client's business, one use case or department at a time, and then repeat the approach. phData pairs that with AI-ready data and semantic-layer work so agents get correct answers over structured data.

Why it matters for FDEs: Anthropic is now putting money into partners whose delivery runs on forward-deployed teams, alongside its own Applied AI and Ode efforts. That points to more FDE-style openings at services firms in the Claude ecosystem, where data engineering and semantic modeling skills sit next to agent building.