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What a Google forward deployed engineer does

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A Google forward deployed engineer (FDE) works in Google Cloud and builds generative AI and agent systems inside customer environments. The roles are levelled like other Google engineering jobs.

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The Google forward deployed engineer, an embedded builder

Google's FDE posting for generative AI places the role in "Google Cloud's Go-To-Market team". It describes the FDE as "an embedded builder who bridges the gap between frontier AI products and production-grade reality within customers."

FDEs code, debug and ship agentic solutions inside the customer's environment. They feed what they learn into the Google Cloud product roadmap.

Channel Dive has reported that Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian announced a new AI-focused FDE unit in Cloud's go-to-market team, with roles across the US, London, Paris and Hong Kong. Kurian has also written that Google sends teams of forward deployed engineers to work with Accenture, Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, HCLTech, PwC and TCS.

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Other Google FDE titles

A search of Google's careers site for "forward deployed" showed these, among others.

  • Applied AI An FDE role and an FDE Manager role in Applied AI, both in Google Cloud.
  • Developer and data Staff FDE, Developer AI and FDE, Data, GenAI, both in Google Cloud.
  • Public sector and Geo An FDE role at Google Public Sector, and FDE, Generative AI, Geo.
  • Internship A Forward Deployed Engineering Intern role for students.

Interviewing at Google for an FDE role

Google does not publish an FDE interview process. The generative AI posting says that "in most instances, this position requires in-person interviews."

The posting asks for experience leading customer discovery and building RAG and vector database pipelines. It prefers experience with multi-agent frameworks such as LangGraph, CrewAI or ADK, so expect those topics. Preferred locations include New York, Austin, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC.

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Does Google hire FDE interns?

Google's careers search showed a Forward Deployed Engineering Intern posting when we checked.

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