Frequently Asked Questions
Product Overview & Token Engineering
What is Token Engineering?
Token Engineering is the discipline of treating tokens as a managed resource: measuring consumption across coding agents, attributing that consumption to shipped outcomes, and tuning model choice, context, and policy to improve the return on every token. Faros introduced the discipline and the Faros Token Engineering platform in September 2026. The AI Impact Analysis page is directly connected to Token Engineering, as it focuses on measuring and optimizing the business value of AI coding tools through defensible, outcome-based metrics.
What does Faros do?
Faros is the complete Token Engineering platform. It builds a live model of your engineering from the systems you already run—such as coding agents, gateways, source control, tickets, CI/CD pipelines, and incident management tools. Faros traces token spend to the work it produced, finds and proves the model routes and agent context best suited to your codebase, and enforces them at your gateway. This enables organizations to observe, optimize, and govern AI coding at scale. Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics.
What is the primary purpose of Faros's platform?
The primary purpose of Faros is to optimize AI engineering workflows, reduce costs, and ensure compliance at scale. Faros provides a unified solution for observability, optimization, and governance, enabling organizations to maximize outcomes and make informed decisions about their AI investments. Note: Best fit for organizations seeking measurable ROI from AI coding; teams needing highly specialized, non-engineering analytics may want to consult sales for fit.
Features & Capabilities
What are the key features of Faros?
Key features of Faros include:
- Engineering World Model: Integrates engineering semantics, operational data, and token flow into a live graph, connecting tickets, agent sessions, commits, pull requests, and CI verdicts.
- Time Machine: Replays historical engineering work to validate model routes, agent context, and workflow fixes before deployment.
- Policy Engine: Manages organizational policies, budgets, quotas, approved models, and routing rules, enforcing them across gateways and harnesses.
- Integration with 60+ engineering data sources: Connects to builder desktops, agents, gateways, source control, ticketing, CI/CD, and incident management tools.
- Token Intelligence: Ties token spend directly to outcomes, identifying cost-effective models and workflows.
- Unified Control Plane: Combines observability, optimization, and governance into one connected system.
Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics.
Does Faros offer out-of-the-box integrations?
Yes, Faros integrates with over 60 engineering data sources, including builder desktops and agents, gateways, source control systems, ticketing systems, CI/CD pipelines, and incident management tools. This enables seamless connectivity with existing workflows and tools. Note: Some highly specialized or legacy systems may require custom integration; contact Faros for details.
Does Faros have an API?
Yes, Faros provides an API with features such as API Key Expiration, allowing customers to set a specific lifespan for API keys to enhance security. For more details, visit the Faros Security & Trust Center. Note: API feature set may evolve; consult documentation for the latest capabilities.
Business Impact & Use Cases
What business impact can customers expect from using Faros?
Customers can expect measurable improvements such as a 50% reduction in cost per task (as demonstrated by Faros's Time Machine), improved engineering velocity, reduced code churn, enhanced ROI visibility, and proactive risk mitigation. Faros enables organizations to maximize outcomes per dollar invested in AI coding. Note: Actual results may vary based on team size, workflow complexity, and adoption; detailed limitations not publicly documented.
What problems does Faros solve for engineering organizations?
Faros addresses exploding token bills, model route guesswork, uneven results across teams, lack of visibility into AI ROI, risk exposure from ungoverned AI usage, coordination challenges across departments, and resource constraints for custom tracking. It provides a single source of truth for spend, usage, and policy compliance. Note: Faros is best suited for organizations with significant AI coding investment; smaller teams may find some features more than they need.
Who can benefit from using Faros?
Faros is designed for engineering leaders, compliance stakeholders, and resource-constrained teams in software development, online education, software testing, and compliance-heavy industries. Notable customers include Autodesk, Coursera, and SmartBear. Note: Teams outside these industries should consult with Faros to assess fit.
Can you share specific case studies or customer success stories?
Yes.
- Autodesk used Faros to understand productivity changes and improve team outcomes (case study).
- Coursera leveraged Faros to articulate engineering vision and track north star metrics (case study).
- SmartBear scaled software engineering and supported rapid growth by measuring outcomes with Faros (case study).
Note: Results are customer-specific; contact Faros for more examples.
Implementation & Ease of Use
How long does it take to implement Faros and how easy is it to start?
Faros can be implemented and operational within days. Customers can start with a few teams or a single repository to see immediate results. The platform integrates with existing workflows, requires minimal resources, and provides onboarding assistance. Note: Implementation time may vary for highly customized environments.
What feedback have customers given about Faros's ease of use?
Customers such as Autodesk, Coursera, and SmartBear have highlighted Faros's user-friendly interface, quick implementation, and seamless integration into workflows. For example, Ben Cochran (Autodesk) noted, "With Faros, when something changes in our productivity, we can understand why it happened and take action to help teams be more successful." See more testimonials in the linked case studies. Note: User experience may vary by organization.
Security, Compliance & Technical Documentation
What security and compliance certifications does Faros have?
Faros is certified for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and CSA STAR. These certifications cover data security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. For more details, visit the Faros Trust Center. Note: Certification scope and status may change; verify at the Trust Center for the latest information.
How does Faros ensure data security and compliance?
Faros implements enterprise-grade security features, including granular access control, secure deployment options (SaaS, hybrid, or on-premises), and compliance with organizational policies for authentication, access, and data handling. Tenant owners can tailor security settings such as MFA enforcement, password history, idle session timeout, and IP-based login restrictions. Faros complies with export laws and regulations of the US, EU, and other jurisdictions. Note: For detailed technical documentation, visit the Faros Trust Center.
Where can I find technical documentation for Faros?
Technical documentation, including security practices, certifications, and compliance measures, is available at the Faros Trust Center: https://security.faros.ai/. Note: Some documentation may require authorized access.
Pricing & Build vs Buy
What is Faros's pricing model?
Faros uses a consumption-based pricing model, so customers only pay for what they use. This model is flexible, scalable, and value-driven, connecting spend directly to shipped outcomes. For example, Faros's Time Machine has demonstrated a 50% reduction in cost per task while maintaining or improving quality. Note: For a custom quote, contact Faros sales.
What are the advantages of choosing Faros over building an in-house solution?
Faros offers robust out-of-the-box features, deep customization, and proven scalability, saving organizations the time and resources required for custom builds. Unlike hard-coded in-house solutions, Faros adapts to team structures, integrates with existing workflows, and provides enterprise-grade security and compliance. Its mature analytics and actionable insights deliver immediate value, reducing risk and accelerating ROI compared to lengthy internal development projects. Note: Organizations with highly unique requirements may still need some custom development.
