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All capabilities · Product, business & communication

Run a customer discovery → POC → pilot loop

Scope a POC with a client, build/adapt it fast, demo it, handle objections, hand over to production.

~20 focused hoursadvanced
Explore 5 tools for this project
Market relevance

Which roles ask for this — and how often

Share of job postings in India, per role, that name this capability.

AI Solutions / Pre-sales Engineer88%Forward Deployed Engineer (AI)80%AI Product Manager21%
What employers mean

You should be able to…

  1. Scope a proof-of-concept with a client to a narrow, demonstrable slice within days, not months
  2. Build or adapt a working POC fast, reusing existing components where possible
  3. Demo the POC to the client and handle technical objections in real time
  4. Define what 'pilot success' looks like before the pilot starts
  5. Hand a successful POC over to a production team with a clear scope and known gaps
  6. Manage client expectations when the POC surfaces a limitation mid-engagement
  7. Own the engagement end to end from discovery call to pilot decision

Needs first: Build an end-to-end chat assistant, Communicate AI trade-offs to stakeholders

Learn — free, link-checked

The few resources that matter

Course · beginner · 120 min · academy.hubspot.com

Inbound Sales

Free, certified course on discovery calls, tailored demos and objection handling — the exact loop a POC needs. — HubSpot Academy
Read · intermediate · 30 min · tryexponent.com

Forward Deployed Engineer Interview: The Definitive Guide

Maps almost 1:1 to what Indian GenAI startups (e.g. Sarvam AI-style roles) ask about running a client POC end to end. — Exponent
Read · intermediate · 40 min · docs.aws.amazon.com

AWS Prescriptive Guidance: patterns

Real solution-architecture patterns and decision guides you can mirror when writing a solution design doc. — AWS
Tools for practice

Choose a tool for the job

Start with one tool for each part of your project. You don’t need to learn them all.

Go to the practice brief

5 tools to explore

OpenAI API

Build · Test

Connect model calls, tool use and structured responses to your own application.

Visit toolGetting started

Claude API

Build · Test

Build model-backed features with messages, tool use and responses you can evaluate.

Visit toolGetting started

Loom

Plan & explain · Video

Record a short walkthrough that explains a demo, decision or unexpected result.

Visit toolGetting started

Selected for practice by RoleGPS. No paid placements or affiliate links.
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Practice

POC: AI-assisted GST reconciliation for a mid-size retailer

Role-play a discovery call with a retailer's finance lead who wants purchase invoices reconciled against GST returns. Write a one-page POC scope doc defining what will and will not be built in two weeks. Generate the data yourself — a script that emits a few hundred purchase invoices plus a GSTR-2B-style statement with mismatches deliberately seeded in — then build the narrow POC that flags them. Finish with a live demo and a pilot-success definition stating what would justify going to production.

Start from

Two CSVs you generate with a script: 200 purchase invoices and a GSTR-2B-style statement with 15 deliberate mismatches seeded in (wrong GSTIN, amount drift, missing invoice)

Milestones
  1. Run the discovery role-play and write the one-page in-scope / out-of-scope doc · ~2.5h
  2. Write the data generator and seed the 15 mismatches you will be judged on finding · ~3.5h
  3. Build the matching and flagging logic until it catches all 15 · ~6h
  4. Write the pilot-success definition with measurable criteria · ~2.5h
  5. Record the demo walkthrough, under 10 minutes · ~2.5h
Done when
  • POC scope doc explicitly lists in-scope and out-of-scope items agreed 'with the client'
  • Working POC is built and demoed on synthetic or sample data within the stated timeline
  • A pilot-success definition with measurable criteria is documented
  • A recorded or live demo walkthrough exists, under 10 minutes
Prove it

Evidence a recruiter can check

  • A demo under 10 minutes that runs the reconciliation live and shows it catching the mismatches you seeded
  • The scope doc's out-of-scope list — what you cut to hit two weeks is the part that shows judgement
  • A pilot-success definition with numeric criteria, dated before the build rather than after it
  • The working POC, with its recall on the 15 seeded mismatches stated in the README
Signal it

Ran a discovery-to-POC loop solo: scoped a GST reconciliation POC to two weeks, built it, demoed it catching every seeded mismatch, and defined the numeric bar for moving to pilot.

Interview

Questions you'll get asked

  1. Walk me through a POC you scoped and delivered — what did you cut to hit the timeline?
  2. How do you handle a client asking for a feature mid-POC that wasn't in the original scope?
  3. What does 'pilot success' mean, and how do you define it before you start building?
  4. Tell me about a POC that failed or wasn't converted to a pilot — what went wrong?
  5. How do you hand off a successful POC to a production engineering team?
  6. How do you keep a POC honest — not overselling what a demo can actually do in production?
See where you stand for AI Solutions / Pre-sales Engineer