diff --git a/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-precommit.yml b/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-precommit.yml
index 37c79b2640add..f3002412c0895 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-precommit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-precommit.yml
@@ -79,8 +79,27 @@ jobs:
 
       toolchain_artifact: sycl_linux_ubuntu22
 
+  compat_read_exclude:
+    name: Read compatibility testing exclude list
+    runs-on: [Linux, build]
+    outputs:
+      FILTER: ${{ steps.result.outputs.FILTER }}
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      with:
+        sparse-checkout: |
+          devops/
+    - name: Register cleanup after job is finished
+      uses: ./devops/actions/cleanup
+    - id: result
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        # Transform to format expected by `llvm-lit --filter-out "pattern1|pattern2|..."`.
+        # First, remove comments/empty lines, then join lines with "|" as separator.
+        echo FILTER="$(grep -v '^#\|^\W*$' devops/compat_ci_exclude.sycl-rel-6_2 | paste -sd '|')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
   run_prebuilt_e2e_tests:
-    needs: [build, detect_changes]
+    needs: [build, detect_changes, compat_read_exclude]
     if: ${{ always() && !cancelled() && needs.build.outputs.build_conclusion == 'success' }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -134,13 +153,19 @@ jobs:
             target_devices: level_zero:gpu;opencl:gpu;opencl:cpu
             extra_lit_opts: --param test-preview-mode=True
             e2e_binaries_artifact: e2e_bin_preview
+          - name: ABI compatibility against sycl-rel-6_2
+            runner: '["Linux", "pvc"]'
+            image: ghcr.io/intel/llvm/sycl_prebuilt_tests:sycl-rel-6_2
+            target_devices: level_zero:gpu
+            extra_lit_opts: '--param test-preview-mode=False --filter-out "${{ needs.compat_read_exclude.outputs.FILTER }}"'
+            e2e_binaries_artifact: 'in-container'
 
     uses: ./.github/workflows/sycl-linux-run-tests.yml
     with:
       name: ${{ matrix.name }}
       runner: ${{ matrix.runner }}
       image: ${{ matrix.image }}
-      image_options: ${{ matrix.image_options }}
+      image_options: ${{ matrix.image_options || '-u 1001 --device=/dev/dri -v /dev/dri/by-path:/dev/dri/by-path --privileged --cap-add SYS_ADMIN' }}
       target_devices: ${{ matrix.target_devices }}
       extra_lit_opts: ${{ matrix.extra_lit_opts }}
       repo_ref: ${{ github.sha }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-run-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-run-tests.yml
index d77be16d2227b..f37b5e59a54a6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-run-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sycl-linux-run-tests.yml
@@ -62,8 +62,9 @@ on:
         description: |
           When set in modes other than `run-only` results in artifact upload.
           For `run-only` mode, if specified, means downloading pre-built
-          binaries from the artifact, otherwise they are expected to be part of
-          the container.
+          binaries from the artifact. If set to special value `in-container`
+          then the binaries are expected to be stored in the container image
+          instead of coming from an artifact.
         type: string
         default: ''
         required: False
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sycl-windows-precommit.yml b/.github/workflows/sycl-windows-precommit.yml
index 8caa7304747c4..b8f8c675151d2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sycl-windows-precommit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sycl-windows-precommit.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ on:
     - '.github/workflows/trivy.yml'
     - 'devops/containers/**'
     - 'devops/actions/build_container/**'
+    - 'devops/compat_ci_exclude.sycl-rel-6_2'
     - 'unified-runtime/examples/**'
     - 'unified-runtime/scripts/**'
     - 'unified-runtime/test/**'
diff --git a/devops/actions/run-tests/e2e/action.yml b/devops/actions/run-tests/e2e/action.yml
index 1457bbe264c2c..2b0564bd1bc2e 100644
--- a/devops/actions/run-tests/e2e/action.yml
+++ b/devops/actions/run-tests/e2e/action.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ runs:
   using: "composite"
   steps:
   - name: Checkout E2E tests
-    if: ${{ !(inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact == '') }}
+    if: ${{ !(inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact == 'in-container') }}
     uses: actions/checkout@v4
     with:
       path: llvm
@@ -33,19 +33,19 @@ runs:
         llvm/utils/lit
         sycl/test-e2e
   - name: Download E2E Binaries
-    if: ${{ inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact != '' }}
+    if: ${{ inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact != 'in-container' }}
     uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
     with:
       name: ${{ inputs.binaries_artifact }}
   - name: Extract E2E Binaries
-    if: ${{ inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact != '' }}
+    if: ${{ inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact != 'in-container' }}
     shell: bash
     run: |
       mkdir build-e2e
       tar -I 'zstd' -xf e2e_binaries.tar.zst -C build-e2e
 
   - name: Extract E2E tests from container image
-    if: ${{ inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact == '' }}
+    if: ${{ inputs.testing_mode == 'run-only' && inputs.binaries_artifact == 'in-container' }}
     shell: bash
     run: |
       mkdir build-e2e llvm
diff --git a/devops/compat_ci_exclude.sycl-rel-6_2 b/devops/compat_ci_exclude.sycl-rel-6_2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d34b3ab81ab12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/devops/compat_ci_exclude.sycl-rel-6_2
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+# Known OK:
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/18059 made property a no-op, so `FileCheck`
+# fails, but that isn't an actual ABI break.
+DiscardEvents/discard_events_accessors.cpp
+DiscardEvents/discard_events_using_assert_ndebug.cpp
+DiscardEvents/discard_events_usm.cpp
+DiscardEvents/invalid_event.cpp
+DiscardEvents/invalid_event_exceptions.cpp
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/18287
+# Throw exception instead of returning garbage
+Basic/info.cpp
+
+# Likely OK, but need author to provide justification, get approval/confirmation
+# from someone:
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/18565
+# This one should have probably be done in multiple PRs, first improving the
+# test's CHECKs and then making an actual functional change.
+#
+# Based on the title, I'd expect to see reduction in number of ur*retain/release
+# calls, but it only moves a few ur*release CHECKs, so I'll let the author
+# update this explanation.
+KernelAndProgram/disable-caching.cpp
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/18253 broke at least some of the pre-built
+# E2E binaries, but do we really need to provide backward compatibility for
+# binaries built with sanitizers?
+Sanitizer
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/19238
+NonUniformGroups/opportunistic_group.cpp
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/17955, experimental extension
+AsyncAlloc/device/async_alloc_from_pool.cpp
+AsyncAlloc/device/async_alloc_zero_init.cpp
+AsyncAlloc/device/ooo_queue_async_alloc_from_pool.cpp
+
+# Need more investigation by the author:
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/18314
+Assert/assert_in_kernels.cpp
+Assert/assert_in_multiple_tus.cpp
+Assert/assert_in_multiple_tus_one_ndebug.cpp
+Assert/assert_in_one_kernel.cpp
+Assert/assert_in_simultaneous_kernels.cpp
+Assert/assert_in_simultaneously_multiple_tus.cpp
+Assert/assert_in_simultaneously_multiple_tus_one_ndebug.cpp
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/17442
+KernelCompiler/opencl.cpp
+KernelCompiler/opencl_cache_eviction.cpp
+KernelCompiler/opencl_queries.cpp
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/18403 (pulldown, so probably offload-tools
+# team should be looking into this)
+DeviceImageDependencies/NewOffloadDriver/dynamic.cpp
+DeviceImageDependencies/NewOffloadDriver/free_function_kernels.cpp
+DeviceImageDependencies/NewOffloadDriver/math_device_lib.cpp
+DeviceImageDependencies/NewOffloadDriver/objects.cpp
+DeviceImageDependencies/NewOffloadDriver/singleDynamicLibrary.cpp
+NewOffloadDriver/aot-gpu.cpp
+NewOffloadDriver/buffer.cpp
+NewOffloadDriver/multisource.cpp
+NewOffloadDriver/spirv_device_obj_smoke.cpp
+NewOffloadDriver/split-per-source-main.cpp
+NewOffloadDriver/sycl-external-with-optional-features.cpp
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/18277
+InOrderEventsExt/get_last_event.cpp
+InorderQueue/in_order_ext_oneapi_submit_barrier.cpp
+
+# https://github.com/intel/llvm/pull/19328
+Adapters/interop-level-zero-buffer-ownership.cpp