Frequently Asked Questions
Product Information & 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 dashboard performance improvements described on this page directly support Token Engineering by enabling faster, more actionable insights into token usage and engineering outcomes.
What does Faros do?
Faros is the complete Token Engineering platform. It lets organizations observe, optimize, and govern AI coding by building a live model of how AI-assisted work actually happens from the systems you already run (coding agents, gateways, source control, tickets, CI/CD pipelines, incidents). 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. Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics.
How does the recent DuckDB integration improve dashboard performance in Faros?
With the introduction of DuckDB, an in-memory database optimized for massive datasets, Faros dashboards now load up to 2.5x faster on average, with a 2.8x improvement in P95 load times (as of August 19, 2024). This means users spend less time waiting and more time acting on insights. A Business Value Engineer reported that charts which previously took up to 30 seconds or timed out now load in under a second. Note: These improvements apply to dashboard performance; other areas may vary.
What are the key features of the Faros platform?
Faros offers the Faros Control Plane for AI Engineering, which includes:
- Engineering World Model: Live graph connecting tickets, agent sessions, commits, pull requests, and CI verdicts for real-time attribution.
- Time Machine: Replays historical engineering work to validate model routes and workflow fixes before deployment.
- Policy Engine: Manages and enforces organizational policies, budgets, quotas, and routing rules with a full audit trail.
- Integration with 60+ engineering data sources.
Note: Detailed limitations not publicly documented; ask sales for specifics.
Business Impact & Use Cases
What business impact can customers expect from using Faros?
Customers using Faros have seen measurable improvements, including a 50% reduction in cost per task (using the Time Machine feature), faster engineering velocity, reduced code churn, and enhanced ROI visibility. Faros also provides risk mitigation through automated policy enforcement and supports strategic decision-making with efficiency benchmarking. Note: Results may vary by organization and use case.
What pain points does Faros help 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. For example, Faros's Time Machine demonstrated a 50% reduction in cost per task, and customers like Autodesk, Coursera, and SmartBear have reported improved productivity and clarity. Note: Not all pain points may be relevant to every organization.
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. Customers include Autodesk, Coursera, and SmartBear. Note: Best fit for organizations seeking to optimize AI engineering workflows; teams with highly specialized, non-standard workflows may require additional customization.
Can you share specific customer success stories with Faros?
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 engineering and supported rapid growth by measuring outcomes with Faros (case study).
Note: Outcomes are specific to each customer; results may vary.
Implementation & Integration
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 and see immediate results. The platform integrates with existing workflows, requires minimal resources to get started, and ensures data security. Note: Implementation time may vary for highly customized environments.
What integrations does Faros support?
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 organization-wide context and optimization of AI engineering workflows. Note: Integration with highly specialized or proprietary systems may require additional development.
Does Faros offer an API?
Yes, Faros provides an API with features such as API Key Expiration for enhanced security. The API enables connectivity with over 60 engineering data sources. Note: API usage may be subject to organizational security policies.
Security, Compliance & 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: For industry-specific compliance requirements, contact Faros directly.
Where can I find technical documentation for Faros?
Comprehensive technical, trust, and security documentation for Faros is available at the Faros Trust and Security Documentation Page. This includes details on security practices, certifications, and compliance measures. Note: Some documentation may require authorized access.
Pricing & Buying Considerations
What is Faros's pricing model?
Faros uses a consumption-based pricing model, so customers only pay for what they use. This approach 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 detailed pricing, 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 custom extensions.
