The Agentic Engineering Institute (AEI) announced today that it is opening nine (9) Founding Member seats to help establish the world’s first professional discipline for Agentic Engineering—the craft of building production-grade cognitive systems for the era of applied intelligence.
The founding cohort will guide AEI’s structured Alpha and Beta rollout and help prepare for the Institute’s expected Global General Release in January 2026.
“Agentic systems are becoming central to enterprise value creation, but the discipline needed to build them doesn’t yet exist,” said Yi Zhou, Founder of AEI and author of Agentic AI Engineering. “These nine Founding Members will help set the standards, identity, and practices that shape how the world engineers applied intelligence.”
A Critical Moment for a New Engineering Discipline
Since the release of Agentic AI Engineering, AEI has seen overwhelming demand for deeper standards, training pathways, field-proven patterns, and a professional community. AEI is responding by launching a global institute built on AEBOP — the Agentic Engineering Body of Practices, the first continuously updated field manual and engineering standard for agentic systems.
Responsibilities of the Founding Cohort
Founding Members will focus on high-value, foundational contributions including:
Helping activate AEI’s 23 practice-area channels
Providing strategic feedback on early AEBOP modules
Shaping AEI’s community norms and onboarding experience
Supporting the first 100 practitioners who join during Beta
These contributions occur during AEI’s launch period and establish the Institute’s long-term cultural and professional baseline.
A Select Cohort of Nine
AEI intentionally set the founding group at nine—small enough for tight collaboration, yet diverse enough to represent the breadth of the Agentic Stack. This cohort will serve as the nucleus of the Institute and hold a permanent place in AEI’s history.
How to Apply
Professionals interested in becoming a Founding Member may apply by emailing:
📩 contact@agenticengineeringinstitute.com
Please include:
A brief statement on why you are a strong fit
A short professional bio
Your LinkedIn URL
Optional links to relevant work (posts, talks, repos, publications)
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until all nine seats are filled.
About the Agentic Engineering Institute (AEI)
The Agentic Engineering Institute is the #1 global network for agentic engineering professionals—the engineers, architects, operators, and leaders building production-grade cognitive systems for the next era of applied intelligence.
AEI advances the discipline of Agentic Engineering through:
AEBOP — the Agentic Engineering Body of Practices
Professional standards and certification pathways
Global community and working groups
Tools, templates, and field-tested engineering guidance
Training, events, and leadership development
AEI’s mission is to ensure intelligent systems are engineered with rigor, safety, reliability, and professional ethics—establishing trust for the age of applied intelligence.
The Agentic Engineering Institute (AEI) today announced the release of AEBOP v1.0, the first comprehensive and production-focused Agentic Engineering Body of Practices — marking a defining milestone in the maturation of AI from experimentation to engineered discipline.
Developed through extensive enterprise fieldwork, AEBOP v1.0 formalizes 23 core practice areas across architecture, cognition, governance, trust, and operations. It provides the industry’s first unified, engineering-grade framework for building reliable, observable, and governed cognitive systems that perform safely at scale.
“For the first time, organizations have a professional playbook for intelligent systems — not just models,” said Yi Zhou, the AEI Founder and CEO. “AEBOP turns intelligence into infrastructure.”
A Discipline Built Around Real Failure Modes
AEBOP is designed to close the gaps responsible for the majority of AI project failures: runtime fragility, reasoning inconsistency, missing trust layers, and the absence of operational guardrails. Each tier addresses a specific engineering, architecture, or leadership failure point.
The Six Tiers of AEBOP — From Orientation to Leadership
T0 — Orientation (All Members)
Shared language, principles, and mental models that anchor the discipline.
T1 — Engineering Foundations (Engineer)
Build governed, observable, and safe runtime systems — the containment layer of autonomy.
T2 — Cognition Loop (Engineer)
Engineer perception, reasoning, memory, and orchestration into cohesive cognition.
T3 — System Design & Architecture (Architect)
Design agentic systems, trust fabrics, and enterprise-wide cognitive architectures.
T4 — Execution & Operations (Architect)
Operate cognitive systems reliably at scale with AgentOps, QA, and the Agentic SDLC.
T5 — Leadership & Scaling (Leader)
Lead AI-native transformation and design federated, enterprise-level intelligence ecosystems.
Membership unlocks progressive tier access:
Engineer → T1–T2 | Architect → T1–T4 | Leader → T1–T5
A Living Standard, Not a Static Manual
AEBOP is continuously updated to incorporate real-world lessons, new patterns, emerging protocols, and validated operational practices. It includes:
Reference architectures, design patterns, and code examples
Operational guardrails, QA models, and trust fabric patterns
Anti-patterns and lessons from failed deployments
Maturity models, checklists, and governance frameworks
Industry case studies and field guidance
Its mission is clear: to help organizations turn clever demos into governed, production-grade cognitive systems — repeatably and safely.
AEBOP v1.0 is now available to AEI members based on their membership tier.
About the Agentic Engineering Institute (AEI)
The Agentic Engineering Institute (AEI) is the world’s leading professional organization for Agentic Engineering — the #1 global network for engineers, architects, and leaders building production-grade cognitive systems.
AEI defines the standards, certifications, and body of practice for the discipline through AEBOP, training programs, enterprise collaboration, and a global member community dedicated to advancing AI from prototypes to reliable, governed infrastructure.