Major AI labs are unleashing forward-deployed engineers (FDEs) to try and grab enterprise customers. Large consultancies are dishing out tokens and assembling armies of consultants — both human and agent — to do the same.
But smaller firms are in the mix now, as well. AI is helping 28Stone Consulting, a New York-based, 230-person technology consultancy for capital markets, punch above its weight against larger rivals in the rush to deliver FDEs.
In this Q&A, Thomas Dolan and Frank Erickson, founders of 28Stone, argue that agentic AI isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution in vertical markets; success takes discipline, deep domain expertise, and human involvement to mitigate risk.
Many enterprises continue to struggle with the use of AI agents, which is consultancies are stepping in to get projects off the ground. 28Stone is among those that have published blueprints and methodologies on the development and delivery of agentic AI workflows with humans in the loop.
Computerworld spoke with both founding partners about why companies are still stumbling with agentic AI rollouts, and what a disciplined delivery process actually looks like.
