Programme Overview
IIT Gandhinagar, through its Competency Advancement Academy (CAA), will commence a six‑month residential Post‑Graduate Diploma in AI‑ML & Agentic AI Engineering, targeting the Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) role that embeds AI specialists within client organisations to deploy agentic systems into production. The new cohort starts in September 2026.
Admission Criteria
Admission is merit‑based, requiring candidates to sit for the 120‑minute All India National Proficiency Test (AINPT) followed by a panel interview; there is no requirement for JEE or GATE scores and seats are limited.
Curriculum Details
The curriculum comprises more than 600 hours of instruction delivered jointly by IIT Gandhinagar faculty and industry leaders from Google, Amazon, Walmart, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Deloitte and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Students will complete between 15 and 20 deployed projects during the programme and will graduate with a PG Diploma from IIT Gandhinagar and Alumni status.
Industry Context
According to hiring data cited by the institute, global postings for Forward Deployed Engineers have risen 729 % year‑on‑year through 2026, and compensation at leading AI firms is reaching $400,000 or more.
Quote
Prof. Sam Placid, CEO of the Competency Advancement Academy, said the curriculum has been tweaked to align with industry demand for the FDE role.
Disclaimer
The press release is provided under an arrangement with PNN; PTI assumes no editorial responsibility.