Accelerating Pfizer's AI Initiatives with Forward Deployed Engineering Squads

Challenge

Pfizer, one of the world's largest biopharmaceutical companies, is expanding its use of AI tooling across technology delivery. Work is organized around small, cross-functional pods, including Forward Impact Teams (FIT), where engineers build hands-on using an approved AI toolset. To keep its AI initiatives moving, Pfizer needed a partner whose engineers could get productive on that toolset quickly and work inside its teams rather than deliver from the outside.

Solution

Appnovation partnered with Pfizer to support its AI initiatives through Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) squads. In an FDE model, engineers sit inside the client's environment, learn how the business operates, and build against real workflows rather than handed-down requirements.

Appnovation's squads bring together AI Software Engineers, Data Specialists, and Product specialists with systems thinking and cross-stack range, delivering across onshore and nearshore locations. Appnovation applied its AI-enhanced delivery model and rolled out a learning plan for Pfizer's approved AI toolset. It also aligned its pod blueprint to Launchpad, Pfizer's internal intake process, so squads plug directly into how Pfizer already brings in new work.

Results

The engagement gives Pfizer a scalable, AI-ready delivery foundation. Appnovation's FDE squads now work inside Pfizer's application development and platform teams. After delivering pod-model proposals aligned to Pfizer's delivery approach, Appnovation was approved to develop an initial trial use case for the FIT Tools team. With a delivery model that spans regions, Pfizer has a repeatable way to expand AI engineering capacity as its AI program grows.

Appnovation's Forward Deployed Engineering squads help pharmaceutical organizations accelerate their AI initiatives from inside their teams. Embedded within Pfizer's Forward Impact Teams, Appnovation's AI Software Engineers, Data Specialists, and Product specialists build against real workflows using Pfizer's approved AI toolset. Find out how Appnovation's Forward Deployed AI Engineering Squads can help your organization accelerate its AI initiatives.