The Rise of Forward Deployed Engineers: How OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google Are Revolutionizing AI Deployment

and Google Are Revolutionizing AI Deployment">

The term 'Forward Deployed Engineer' (FDE) may evoke military connotations, but it's a role that's gaining traction in the AI industry. An FDE is a software engineer who works embedded with a client's technical and operational environment, on-site, hybrid, or inside the client's cloud or VPC. This engineer writes real code that runs in the client's production systems, working alongside domain experts to deliver working systems that meet specific needs.

The FDE role differs significantly from traditional advisory consulting. While consultants write reports and recommendations, FDEs own implementation and production delivery. They build the actual system and stay until it runs in production.

This approach was coined by Palantir in the early 2010s, emerging from a problem they couldn't solve any other way. Palantir's early on-site engineers were called 'Deltas,' and until 2016, the company had more FDEs than software engineers. The standard enterprise software motion often breaks down when it comes to AI systems.

The client's engineers know their business deeply, including data schemas, compliance requirements, and legacy system architecture. The AI lab's engineers understand how models behave in production, including prompting patterns, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) strategies, and evaluation frameworks. However, neither side has the other's knowledge, making it challenging to deploy AI systems effectively.

This is where FDEs come in. They bridge the gap between the client's knowledge and the AI lab's expertise. FDEs design prompt architectures, configure RAG pipelines, develop evaluation frameworks, and implement production observability.

They also need to understand security, compliance, and data governance requirements. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are investing heavily in FDEs. OpenAI began building its FDE team in late 2024 and accelerated hiring through 2025.

The company has formed a joint venture called 'The Deployment Company,' which raised over $4 billion from 19 investors. Anthropic has also announced a parallel initiative, forming a new AI-native enterprise services firm with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs as founding partners. The FDE role requires a specific combination of deployment skills, not research skills.

It's a distinct career path that combines technical depth with client-facing communication and domain fluency. As the AI industry continues to evolve, the demand for FDEs is likely to grow, making it an exciting and challenging career path for software engineers. The success of Palantir's FDE approach provides a proof of concept for this model.