+729%
Year-over-year growth in forward deployed engineer postings. Anthropic, OpenAI, Palantir and Stripe are among the companies hiring for it.
Source: Indeed data via Business Insider, May 2026
100 days · $10,000LIVE 16 NOV
AGENT
BUILDERCHALLENGE
✦✦✦
$10,000
PRIZE POOL10 real-world AI challenges · 100 days · Top 1% → Bangalore finale
Join the early list →
Going live in
DAYS
:HRS
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01How it works
Four steps. 100 days.
You build from anywhere. Every challenge scores you. The best builders meet in Bangalore.
FDE = Forward Deployed Engineer. The engineer an AI company sends to a customer to make its product work in their world.
1
Now → 16 NovRegister
Sign up once. Registration opens Sun 25 Oct.
2
Every 10 daysA challenge drops
A real problem an FDE would face at a customer. 10 in total.
3
Before the deadlineBuild & submit
Ship a working agent. Earn Coins. Climb the board.
4
After Day 100Make the finale
Top 1% go to AI House, Bangalore.
🌐100% online · only the finale is offline🚫Cohort Hackathon → 100-day challenge🎟️No fixed seats · top 1% qualify
Built for Software developersindie hackersData / ML engineersCareer switchersStudents
02The roadmap
10 drops. One path to Bangalore.
A new challenge goes live every 10 days.
Season progressDay 0 / 100
SUN 25 OCTRegistration opensLock your spot
25 OCT – 15 NOVPre-seasonGet set up. Find your stack.
MON 16 NOVGO LIVE · C01Day 1. First drop.
SAT 26 DECChallenge 05End of Phase 1
SUN 14 FEBFinal drop · C10Day 100 closes Tue 23 Feb
AFTER DAY 100Finale · Bangalore
The finale · AI House, Bangalore
Top 1% get the room.
The only offline part. No brief, next to the best builders of the challenge.
- Qualify through the challenge leaderboard
- No fixed cap. Top 1% make it.
03What you win
Play for $10,000.
Cash, swag, a seat at the finale and doors into FDE roles.
Total prize pool
$10,000
Split across the season's top builders. Plus multiple swag drops.
2nd
🏆 1st
3rd
🎁
Swag drops
Multiple swags through the challenge.
🏟️
Finale seat
Top 1% build at AI House, Bangalore.
⚡
AI credits
LLM credits to build with.
🚪
Career doors
100+ career placements.
FDE
Train for the role, not a certificate.
An FDE is the engineer an AI company sends to a customer to make its product work in their world.
Rewards store
Redeem your coins
Coins you earn in the Agent Builder Challenge can be redeemed for these rewards on the HiDevs platform.
Rewards store launching soon
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04Why this role
The industry is betting big on this role.
Finish this challenge and train for the Forward Deployed Engineer role.
Claude Frontier Academy, to train 10,000 Frontier Deployed Engineers by the end of 2027.
anthropic.com · Oct 2026A new Forward Deployed Engineering organisation to embed engineers with customers, announced 30 Jun 2026.
aboutamazon.com · Jun 2026The FDE Collective Fellowship: 100 competencies and 50+ production tools.
fdecollective.comThe typical pay range for forward deployed engineering roles in the US.
Indeed data via Business Insider05Who is an FDE
Who is a Forward Deployed Engineer?
A Forward Deployed Engineer sits inside the client's business and does two jobs at once: the consultant's job of finding and framing the real problem, and the engineer's job of building and running the system that solves it.
Complete this Challenge.
Become an FDE.
- 01Solve 10 real-world agent challenges
- 02Ship like an FDE
- 03Top 1% to the Bangalore finale
06Built by real builders · This is AI House
We've run this before.
The community behind this competition has already filled rooms and shipped real builds.
01
Google for Developers AI series
Builder events with Google for Developers
11events
7,500+registrations
598agents
02
Mastra × Lyzr × Qdrant
Agent builder events
25+events
800+projects
550+stars
03
MOSS
YC Fall 2026 builder sprint
1,510+registrations
220K+impressions
150+submissions
Photos: AI House community events, Bangalore.
07Partners
Built with the tools teams ship on.
Basic Python is the only prerequisite. Every level ships with an Intel Cache of boilerplates, architecture diagrams and sessions on Luma.
AI tool partners
Lyzr
Agent framework
Qdrant
Vector search for memory and retrieval
Enkrypt
AI security and guardrails
Hiring partners
Coming soon
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Your
logo
logo
Your logo here
Become a partner with us and connect your product with builders across 100+ cities, or hire from the top of the leaderboard.
08Judges & mentors
Announcing soon.
Builders and leaders from AI companies and hiring partners will judge the finale and mentor every phase.
What is the Agent Builder Challenge?
The Agent Builder Challenge is a 100-day online AI agent challenge by AI House and HiDevs. A new challenge drops every 10 days, the prize pool is $10,000, and the top 1% of builders join an offline finale at AI House, Bengaluru. It goes live on 16 November 2026.
Who can join the Agent Builder Challenge?
Students and developers who want to build AI agents can join online from anywhere. Each 10-day level is scored on a leaderboard, so consistent builders rise to the top. The top 1% are invited to build at the Bengaluru finale.
Is this a hackathon or a cohort?
No. It's a 100-day challenge. A new challenge goes live every 10 days. You compete in each one.
Is it online or offline?
100% online. Only the finale is offline, at AI House, Bangalore.
How do I reach the finale?
Score Coins across the challenges. The top 1% qualify. There is no fixed cap.
What happens at the finale?
The top 1% take part in the finale.
Do I need FDE experience?
No. You need to code and ship. Developers, founders, ML engineers, career switchers and students are all welcome.
Going live Mon 16 NovDon't watch it happen.
Don't watch it happen.
Be on the leaderboard.
The Agent Builder Challenge starts Mon 16 Nov.
Register now and start on Day 1.
DAYS
:HRS
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- SUN 25 OCTRegistration opens
- MON 16 NOVChallenge 01 goes live · Day 1