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Palantir

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

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.

How Forward Deployed Engineering is done at Kepler — Vinoo Ganesh

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.

Inside Palantir: Building Software That Matters | Shyam Sankar on a16z

Inside Palantir: Building Software That Matters | Shyam Sankar on a16z

Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir, discusses his book 'Mobilize' and the urgent need for America to inspire its 'latent heretics.' He analyzes the AI-driven SaaS market through the lens of 'alpha versus beta software,' advocates for human agency over automation to re-industrialize, and explains how film and storytelling can rebuild national will.

Alex Karp on Palantir, AI Weapons, & American Domination | The a16z Show

Alex Karp on Palantir, AI Weapons, & American Domination | The a16z Show

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, discusses the critical role of technology in national defense, warns Silicon Valley of a political backlash if it fails to support the military, and argues that America's key advantage in the AI race is its ability to cultivate and protect neurodiverse, unconventional talent.

The FDE Playbook for AI Startups with Bob McGrew

The FDE Playbook for AI Startups with Bob McGrew

Bob McGrew, an early executive at Palantir and former Chief Research Officer at OpenAI, explains the Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) model he helped pioneer. He details its origins, operational structure, and why it has become the dominant strategy for AI agent startups navigating a new market with immense product discovery needs.