Kyoto's HACARUS launches "HACARUS FDE" to embed engineers with Japanese customers for generative AI rollouts

HACARUS, a Kyoto-based AI company, began offering a new service called HACARUS FDE on November 11, 2026. Its forward deployed engineers go into customers' workplaces to find problems that generative AI can solve, then build prototypes, validate them in the field, put them into production, and help the customer keep them running. The FDE assigned to each client works together with HACARUS's internal technical team.

Engagements start with an "FDE diagnosis" of about two weeks, where the team narrows down one target problem and tests a prototype on site, checking answer accuracy, usage and expected impact. According to the company's timeline, that is followed by a one-to-two-month limited trial, a two-to-four-month full rollout, and ongoing operational support, with a go or no-go decision at each stage.

HACARUS says it has worked on more than 700 AI projects in manufacturing, construction and infrastructure, and the service can run on cloud generative AI or on local models inside closed, offline networks when confidential data can't leave the customer's premises.

Why it matters for FDEs: it is another sign that the FDE label has moved well beyond US AI labs. In Japan, AI vendors and system integrators are now packaging on-site, outcome-focused engineering as a named service, and on-premise and air-gapped deployments are becoming part of the FDE skill set in industrial settings.