Forward Deployed Engineers: The emerging role that OpenAI and Anthropic are scaling

The Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) has emerged as an in-demand position in Silicon Valley. These engineers are embedded within client organizations to help customize AI solutions, such as building and tuning agent workflows tailored to specific business needs. OpenAI and Anthropic have recently begun establishing dedicated teams to place FDEs within client organizations. Palantir pioneered the concept roughly two decades ago by deploying engineers to government facilities to work on secure, air-gapped systems. Beyond technical proficiency, FDEs must possess communication skills and often business acumen, as they need to understand client requirements, develop project strategies, and explain complex technologies effectively. The surge in FDE demand stems from the substantial work required to transform a general-purpose language model into a custom agent workflow meeting particular business requirements. However, analysts suggest that AI Engineer roles will likely far outnumber FDE positions, since most companies prefer to hire their own staff for internal projects rather than rely on vendor-provided engineers. Additionally, client concerns about vendor lock-in—where embedded FDEs create tight integration with a single vendor's products—limit optionality for companies evaluating different AI providers.