Palantir Foundry Implementation

Palantir Foundry delivered end to end: source system connectors, ontology design, Workshop applications, and AIP, in the deployment environment your security team approves.
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Definition

What is Palantir Foundry?

Palantir Foundry is an operating platform for data: it connects source systems, transforms data through governed pipelines, models the business as an ontology of objects and actions, and serves operational applications on top. A Foundry implementation is the work of wiring that platform into your enterprise: integrations, pipelines, ontology design, applications, security, and the operating model that keeps it alive. BD Emerson delivers implementations with forward deployed engineers and security practitioners working as one team.

Services

What Foundry implementation services are included?

Data connection and pipelines
Ontology design
Application builds
Migration and coexistence
Security and governance configuration
Operate and enable

Data connection and pipelines

We integrate source systems through Foundry's connectors and build the transformation pipelines that turn raw tables into governed, tested datasets. Pipeline health, data quality checks, and lineage come standard.

Ontology design

We model your operations as objects, properties, links, and actions: the semantic layer every application, analysis, and AIP agent shares. Ontology decisions made early determine what the platform can do for years.

Application builds

Workshop and application builds that put the ontology in operators' hands: dashboards, workflows, write-back actions, and decision tools built for daily use rather than demo day.

Migration and coexistence

Foundry rarely lands in an empty field. We design coexistence with your warehouse, lakehouse, and BI stack, migrate what belongs in Foundry, and keep clean contracts with what stays.

Security and governance configuration

Markings, purpose-based access, project structure, and audit configured to your policies before rollout. Deployments produce the evidence SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, or CMMC programs need.

Operate and enable

Runbooks, monitoring, upgrade discipline, and builder training. We leave behind an internal team that ships, with managed support available where you want it.

Deployment environments
Deployment options

Where Palantir Foundry runs

Foundry runs in four places, and the choice sets your security boundary, your release process, and part of your cost. Settle it before the build starts, because moving later means redoing connectors and access policy.
Palantir cloud

Palantir cloud

Palantir hosts and operates the environment. You get the fastest start, since there is no infrastructure for your team to stand up, and Palantir handles platform upgrades through Apollo. This suits commercial workloads where the data can leave your tenancy and no sovereignty rule applies. Your side of the work is connectors, identity integration, and access policy.
Customer cloud

Your own cloud tenancy

Foundry runs inside your AWS, Azure, or GCP account, so the data stays under your cloud contract and your network controls. You keep the perimeter, key management, and logging in tools your security team already monitors. Expect more setup work up front for networking, identity, and egress rules. This is the common choice when a security review rules out a vendor-hosted option.
On-premise

On-premise

Foundry runs in your own data center, usually because a regulator, a contract, or a latency requirement rules out cloud. You take on capacity planning, hardware, and the operational load of running the platform, while Apollo handles the release pipeline into the environment. Cost and timeline both climb with the number of environments you have to stand up. Plan for a longer path to the first working application.
Air-gapped

Air-gapped

A deployment with no network path to the internet, used in classified and defense settings. Every update moves through a controlled transfer process, which changes how you plan releases, patching, and support. This is the most demanding option to build and operate, and it drives the largest share of engagement cost when it is in scope. Decide early, because retrofitting an air gap onto a connected design means rebuilding it.
First arc
Delivery timeline

Palantir Foundry implementation, week by week

A first Foundry arc runs 6 to 12 weeks. The phases overlap, and the ranges below shift with the number of source systems and how clean the data is when it arrives.

Weeks 1 to 2: scope and environment

We pick one use case with a named owner and a decision it has to support, then stand up the environment and identity integration. Output is a scoped use case, a source system inventory, and working access for the team. The main variable is how long your security review of the environment takes. Nothing gets built until the use case has an owner who will use it.

Weeks 2 to 4: connectors and pipelines

Connectors land the source systems, then pipelines clean and join the data into a usable shape. Output is scheduled pipelines with health checks and documented transformations. Effort tracks the number of source systems and how much data quality work the sources need. Your data engineers work alongside ours here, since they know why the source data looks the way it does.

Weeks 3 to 6: the ontology slice

We model only the objects and links the use case needs: object types, properties, link types, and the actions that write back. Output is a working ontology slice in your instance plus written definitions everyone agreed to. The slow part is settling contested definitions across teams; the modeling itself moves quickly. The slice is built to extend, so the next use case reuses it rather than starting over.

Weeks 5 to 9: Workshop delivery

We build the Workshop application the operators will actually open, then revise it against their feedback in short cycles. Output is a working app in production use, with actions and writeback wired to the ontology. Effort depends on how many screens and workflows the job needs. We build with your team watching, so they can change the app after we leave.

Weeks 6 to 12: security, go-live, handover

Markings, access policies, and group design get configured against who is allowed to see which rows, then audit logging is turned on and tested. Output is a production go-live, an evidence pack for your auditors, and documentation your team can run from. Environment count and whether an air-gapped deployment is in scope drive this phase. Handover includes runbooks and a working session with the people taking it over.

Weeks 10 onward: AIP on the ontology

Once the ontology holds real objects, AIP agents have something reliable to read. We scope an agent to a task your team does by hand, then build the retrieval, tool calls, evaluation set, and guardrails. Cost follows the number of tools the agent needs and how strict your review and logging requirements are. You own the agent configuration and the evaluation results that show how it behaves.
What is Palantir Foundry?
A plain description of what Foundry does: connect source systems, model them as objects, and put applications on top. Read it first if you are still deciding whether the platform fits the problem.
Palantir consulting
The hub page for our Palantir work: engagement models, what we do and do not do, and the rest of the service pages. Start there if you want the full picture before scoping a Foundry build.
Our approach

Our approach

01

Prove value on one use case

The first six to twelve weeks target a single operational workflow with real users. That use case pays for the foundations everything else reuses.

02

Design the ontology deliberately

We workshop the object model with operators and data owners before building wide. A rushed ontology is the most expensive mistake in a Foundry program.

03

Engineer for production

Pipelines get tests, applications get owners, releases get discipline. We treat Foundry as production software, not an analytics sandbox.

04

Transfer the keys

Documentation, training, and paired delivery mean your team runs the platform. Success is your builders shipping without us.

05

Evidence while you build

Control narratives, access decisions, and data lineage are recorded as the pipelines land. The first evidence request then finds an answer already written.

06

Coexist before you migrate

Foundry runs next to the warehouse and lakehouse you already pay for. We connect to those systems first, then retire whatever stops earning its keep.

07

Settle the environment first

Palantir cloud, your own cloud tenancy, on-premise, and air-gapped all change the build plan. We answer that question in week one rather than week ten.

contact us

Scoping a Foundry implementation?

Speak with BD Emerson about your data landscape, first use case, and timeline.

Our Advantage

Why BD Emerson for Foundry implementation

Delivery, not decks

Forward deployed engineers building in your environment, measured by working pipelines, applications, and adopted workflows.

Secure and audit-ready

Foundry's security model configured by practitioners who run compliance programs daily, so the deployment stands up to CISO and auditor scrutiny from day one.

Built to be yours

Every engagement transfers capability. Your team inherits an ontology it understands and applications it can extend.

No license resale, no margin

BD Emerson does not resell Palantir licenses. You buy the platform from Palantir and delivery from us, so a recommendation to use fewer seats or less compute costs us nothing.

Reviews

What our customers say

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

Certificates

Our accreditations

At BD Emerson, we believe that our team's extensive certifications not only set us apart but also ensure that we provide the highest level of service to our clients.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is Palantir Foundry used for?

How long does a Foundry implementation take?

What drives Foundry implementation cost?

What is the Foundry ontology?

How does Foundry handle security?

Does Foundry replace our data warehouse?

Can Foundry run AIP agents?

Where can Palantir Foundry be deployed?

What does the first arc actually deliver?

Which source systems can Foundry connect to?

How does Workshop fit into a Foundry build?

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