The Dirty Secret of Forward Deployed Engineering — Natalie Meurer, Sierra

Natalie Meurer discusses the "dirty secret" of Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE), arguing that its definition has broadened so much it has lost specific meaning, yet remains critical in the age of AI. She traces its evolution at Palantir from pure DevOps to data integration, custom solutions, and enablement, highlighting customer accountability as its enduring core. Meurer contends that as AI makes code cheap, the focus shifts to integrating data, understanding customers, and achieving outcomes—making agent engineering a direct descendant of FDE under a new name, especially evident in the move towards outcome-based pricing models.