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Forward deployed engineering team structure

Buyer guide

A forward deployed engineer (FDE) rarely works alone. Forward deployed engineering team structure at the big employers surrounds engineers with strategists, engagement managers and programme leads. Here is what those companies publish about their setups.

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Forward deployed engineering team structure at the leaders

CompanyRoles around the FDETeam shape
PalantirDeployment Strategists work with FDEs on problems, data and users. Specialist forward deployed AI, infrastructure, reliability, security and enablement engineers.Small teams owning end-to-end execution
OpenAIFDE managers, a platform engineering manager for FDE, and close work with Product, Research and go-to-market teamsFDEs measured on production adoption and workflow impact
AnthropicFDE managers, Engagement Managers who own delivery logistics and stakeholders, and pre-sales and post-sale programme leadsAn Applied AI team with team OKRs tied to customer outcomes
AWSA dedicated Forward Deployed Engineering unitPods of engineers embedded with a customer at a time

From job postings and announcements.

The roles in a mature FDE function

  • Forward deployed engineer Builds and ships the system in the customer's environment.
  • Deployment strategist Finds the most important problem, the data and the users. Palantir's version requires travel.
  • Engagement manager Owns delivery logistics and stakeholder management so engineers can build.
  • FDE manager Hires, staffs projects, reviews architecture and code, and builds playbooks.
  • Programme leads Pre-sales qualifies and shapes the work. Post-sale runs delivery after signature.
  • Specialists Reliability, security or infrastructure engineers for heavy deployments.

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Starting your own FDE function

  1. 01

    Start with one senior FDE and one account

    Prove the model on a deployment that matters before building a team.

  2. 02

    Add a strategist or engagement lead

    Do it once engineers spend more time coordinating than building.

  3. 03

    Hire a manager who has done it

    OpenAI and Anthropic ask their FDE managers for experience managing customer-facing engineers.

  4. 04

    Build the feedback loop to product

    Turn repeated work into tools, so each deployment needs less custom code.

For companies

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Related FDE guides

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FAQ

Questions people ask

Who should FDEs report to?

An engineering leader inside a dedicated FDE or applied AI group, not sales. OpenAI and Anthropic both run separate forward deployed engineering teams.

How many FDEs per customer?

It depends on the deployment. AWS embeds pods of engineers, and many startups start with one.

What is the difference between a deployment strategist and an FDE?

At Palantir the strategist focuses on the problem, data and users, and works with FDEs who build the pipelines and apps.

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