Forward Deployed: with Wonderful
Hosted by Whale + Bas van den Brande + Alexander Kempen + Joris Dekker
Register with organizer
What to look forward to
On November 18, Wonderful CTO Netherlands Sako Arts will talk with Duna deployment lead Joris about forward deployed engineering, from building effective customer-embedded teams to scaling service and managing change in AI deployments. Arts brings experience from Wonderful, a $5 billion AI company operating in more than 35 countries, and as co-founder of FruitPunch AI.
Inside the event
Wonderful is valued at $5 billion and operates in more than 35 countries. Its secret weapon? Forward deployed engineers, embedded directly within customers to make AI work in production.
On November 18, Sako Arts, CTO Netherlands at Wonderful, joins Whale for a fireside chat with Joris (leading Deployment at Duna) about all things forward deployed engineering.
We'll cover
- What marks a good forward deployed engineer
- Why embedding with customers beats one-size-fits-all SaaS in an AI-first environment
- Navigating white-glove service and scalability
- managing executives and day-to-day stakeholders
- How to structure change management
Agenda
- 17:00 – Doors open
- 17:15 – Fireside chat & Q&A with Sako
- 18:00–19:00 – Drinks and bites
About ****Sako Arts
CTO Netherlands at Wonderful, the AI platform putting agents on the front lines of customer service across voice, chat, and email
This September, Wonderful raised a $550 million Series C led by Insight Partners, more than doubling its valuation to $5 billion in under six months. Before Wonderful, Sako co-founded FruitPunch AI.
About Whale 🐳
We bring the next generation of operators and founders together - through expert-led sessions, dinner and hackathons.
Norrsken House Amsterdam
Norrsken House Amsterdam, VOC-kade 10, 1018 LG Amsterdam, Netherlands. Confirm the venue with the organizer before traveling.
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Last checked: Nov 11, 2026. Confirm current availability before making plans.
Organizer page checked: Nov 11, 2026. Check registration for the latest details.