Forward deployed engineering

Jul 28, 2026

How Forward Deployed Engineering is done at Factory — Eno Reyes

Eno Reyes discusses Factory's unique approach to Forward Deployed Engineering, positioning FDEs as the "tip of the spear" for product feedback rather than professional services. He introduces the "software factory" concept, an AI-driven, automated pipeline from signal to deploy, enabled by Droid—a model-independent, air-gappable agent harness. Reyes emphasizes "agent readiness" through robust validation loops as key to achieving autonomy, citing successes like migrating massive codebases. He frames the FDE's role as a balancing act, demonstrating the future of autonomous engineering without alienating customers, akin to Disney's Epcot analogy.

Jul 28, 2026

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.

Jul 28, 2026

How Forward Deployed Engineering is done at Decagon — Sunny Rekhi

Sunny Rekhi, CTO of Forward Deployed Engineering at Decagon, explains how his company builds and scales AI customer service agents. He delves into the dual nature of forward-deployed work – agent configuration and product development driven by customer asks – and how this role blends with core product engineering. The discussion covers critical strategies for scaling from 50 to 500 employees, emphasizing restraint, early success definition, industry specialization, and the ethos of turning custom solutions into self-serve, reusable product features.

Jul 28, 2026

How Forward Deployed Engineering is done at Kepler — Vinoo Ganesh

Vinoo Ganesh, formerly of Palantir, details how Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) functions as a critical product strategy rather than a sales role. He shares insights from Palantir's Foundry development, emphasizing how FDEs embed with customers to uncover true problems, observe user behavior, define a common linguistic ontology, and build production-ready solutions from temporary fixes, ultimately driving core product leverage.

Jul 14, 2026

Forward Deployed Engineering at Cursor — Pauline Brunet

Pauline Brunet, VP of Forward Deployed Engineering at Cursor, details how FDE drives AI adoption in enterprises. She distinguishes FDE from traditional services, outlines the 'magical unicorn' FDE profile, shares Cursor's project-based co-development approach, and offers best practices for team structure, customer engagement, and measuring ROI.

Jul 08, 2026

Shipping Production AI Inside Government — William Tarr, Ministry of Justice (DO NOT PUBLISH)

The UK Ministry of Justice Justice AI Unit operates as a startup within government, deploying engineers directly into prisons and probation offices. This 'forward deployed' model enables rapid, user-centric AI product development, overcoming bureaucratic hurdles by prioritizing real-world feedback and agile implementation to empower frontline staff and solve critical operational challenges.