Forward Deployed Engineer · n8n · Dify · Self-hosted AI · Zero cloud data leakage

Your FDE for

your servers.

BenchWork Labs embeds with your team, deploys n8n and Dify on your own infrastructure, and stays until it works — AI agents, workflow automation, and RAG pipelines that never send your data to a third-party cloud. GDPR-compliant. DPDP-ready. Fully auditable.

Book a discovery call Why self-hosted?
0%
Data to cloud
1wk
Avg deployment
179k
n8n GitHub stars
144k
Dify GitHub stars
◆ n8n Workflow Automation ◆ Dify AI Agents ◆ Self-Hosted RAG Pipelines ◆ MCP Integration ◆ Ollama · Local LLMs ◆ GDPR Compliant ◆ DPDP Ready ◆ Zero Data Leaving Your Server ◆ Internal Knowledge Bots ◆ n8n Workflow Automation ◆ Dify AI Agents ◆ Self-Hosted RAG Pipelines ◆ MCP Integration ◆ Ollama · Local LLMs ◆ GDPR Compliant ◆ DPDP Ready ◆ Zero Data Leaving Your Server ◆ Internal Knowledge Bots
What we deploy

AI automation.
On your servers.

We set up, configure, and hand off production-grade self-hosted AI systems — then train your team to own them.

01 —
n8n Workflow Automation
Self-hosted n8n on your VPS or cloud account. We build your first workflows — lead routing, invoice processing, Slack alerts, CRM sync — and document everything so your team can maintain it.
02 —
Dify AI Chatbots & Agents
Internal knowledge bot connected to your documents, wikis, and databases. Runs entirely on your server — employees ask questions, get answers, nothing leaves your infrastructure.
03 —
RAG Pipelines on Your Data
Connect Dify to your PDFs, Google Drive, Notion, or databases. Retrieval-augmented generation that answers questions using your actual company knowledge — not public internet data.
04 —
n8n + Dify Integration
Wire Dify's AI decision layer into n8n's automation backbone. The AI classifies, routes, and decides — n8n executes across your existing tools. Two open-source platforms, one reliable system.
05 —
Local LLM Setup (Ollama)
For maximum privacy — we configure Ollama with Llama 3, Mistral, or Qwen running entirely on your hardware. No API keys, no per-token costs, no data leaving your network. Ever.
06 —
Audit Trails & Compliance
Every AI action logged, timestamped, and tamper-evident. Built for GDPR Article 30 record-keeping and India's DPDP Act. Exportable audit reports for your compliance team or regulator.
The case for self-hosting

Your data shouldn't leave
your building.

Most AI tools send everything to a US cloud server. That's fine for a personal chatbot. It's not fine for payroll data, patient records, client contracts, or anything your legal team would object to.

🔒
GDPR & DPDP Compliance
GDPR requires data to stay within approved jurisdictions. India's DPDP Act restricts cross-border data transfer for sensitive categories. Self-hosted means the data never leaves your jurisdiction. No legal opinion required.
💸
Cut Your Cloud AI Bill
Companies running 1M+ tokens/month through OpenAI pay $2,000–15,000/month. A self-hosted n8n + Ollama stack costs $50–200/month in VPS fees. Same workflows, 90% lower cost after setup.
🏗️
No Vendor Lock-in
n8n and Dify are open source. You own the deployment, the workflows, and the data. If pricing changes, if a service shuts down, if you want to migrate — you have the source code and the exports.
🔍
Full Auditability
Every workflow run, every AI decision, every tool call is logged locally. Your security team can audit everything. No black-box cloud APIs, no data you can't inspect, no surprises in a breach report.
How an engagement works

Embed. Deploy.
Train. Stay.

01
Discovery — Day 1
We understand your stack and pain
A 30-minute call. We ask what you're automating today, what's manual, what touches sensitive data. We map your infrastructure constraints — VPS, on-prem, AWS private subnet — and agree on the right deployment target.
02
Deploy — Days 2–3
We stand up n8n and/or Dify on your server
Docker Compose, NGINX reverse proxy, SSL, persistent storage, daily backups. A production-grade deployment — not a demo. You get SSH access, admin credentials, and a written deployment runbook.
03
Build — Days 3–6
We build your first 3 workflows or agents
We implement the use cases that came out of discovery — typically lead routing, internal Q&A bot, or document processing. Each workflow is documented, tested, and production-ready before handoff.
04
Handoff — Day 7
You own it. We teach your team.
Live walkthrough with your team. We document everything, record a Loom for async reference, and leave you with a maintenance guide. Ongoing retainer available — but designed so you don't need it.
The tech

Open source.
Battle-tested.

Every tool we use is open source, actively maintained, and deployed by thousands of companies in production.

Workflow Engine
179k GitHub stars. MCP-native. Connects to 500+ services. Fair-code license — free to self-host.
AI App Platform
144k stars. Visual RAG builder, agent workflows, model management. MIT for community edition.
Local LLM Runtime
Run Llama 3, Mistral, Qwen on your own hardware. Zero API costs. Zero external calls.
Container Runtime
Reproducible deployments. Works on any VPS, AWS, GCP, Azure, or on-premise Linux server.
Start an engagement

Tell us what you're
trying to automate.

A 30-minute discovery call is free. We'll scope the engagement honestly — what it takes, what it costs, and whether self-hosting is the right call for your situation.