Forward Deployed Engineers are in demand but what is FDE and how do you become one?
In the past year, over 1,00,000 tech workers globally have been laid off, on account of AI restructuring. Amazon, Microsoft, TCS, Oracle, the list is
In the past year, over 1,00,000 tech workers globally have been laid off, on account of AI restructuring. Amazon, Microsoft, TCS, Oracle, the list is quite long. At a time when everyone is concerned if AI will take their job, the same AI tools have led to one job rising in demand – Forward Deployed Engineer, or FDE. Earlier this week, TCS, the largest Indian IT firm, announced that it was going to hire up to 8,900 FDEs, just months after 20,000 job cuts. AI companies want FDEs too. OpenAI and Anthropic have started their own AI service companies that will employ FDEs with millions of dollars in funding. Read Full Story But what does a Forward Deployed Engineer actually do? And how do you become an FDE in the first place? What is a Forward Deployed Engineer? Before we take a look at how you can become an FDE, we must first understand what this role is all about. You see, a Forward Deployed Engineer is responsible for helping integrate AI tools with a client’s system. Harsha Thappari, software engineering director at Evernorth Health Services, uses a simple analogy. He tells India Today Tech, "A Forward Deployed Engineer is like a military strategist sending out small, specialised units to a battlefield with clear objectives.” In essence, a company sends FDEs to clients with the task of helping integrate new AI tools in their existing systems. Harsha adds, “They work closely with the business, get to understand it, identify different aspects and challenges, and develop solutions that match those needs. Not only do they create proofs of concept, but their role also encompasses deploying, implementing, and refining the solution.” FDE is not a new role. It can be traced back to American giant Palantir in the mid 2000s. Vishal Sarai, CTO of CambrianEdge.ai, tells India Today Tech, “Palantir originally created this role to handle complex data projects inside secure government offices.” What has made FDEs more important now for almost every company is AI. As Vishal puts it, “AI has made this job important again because of the last mile problem. Anyone can buy an off-the-shelf AI model but making that model work safely with a company's private, messy databases is incredibly hard. FDEs are the elite engineers sent by AI vendors to bridge this gap.” How do you become an FDE?
The role of FDE sounds promising. But what do you do to actually become one, and are there any courses for FDEs? Harsha explains, “As things stand, we have not yet found any specific or well-structured certifications or training programs tailored to this type of role.” Vishwa Kiran, CTO of Skillmine Technology Consulting, says that to become an FDE, you need to master technical and people skills. “Students should focus on learning programming, AI fundamentals, cloud technologies, and problem solving. Just as important are communication skills and the ability to understand business needs,” he tells India Today Tech. When it comes to technical skills, Vishal Sharai adds, “Students must go past basic web development to learn data pipelines, vector databases, and AI frameworks like LangChain or LlamaIndex.” Vishal explains that actually working on real projects can also help a student learn how to work with clients. He adds, “Building open-source software or taking on local freelance work forces you to talk to users, translate vague human complaints into code, and prove you can solve real-world problems." This focus was echoed by Neelabh Shukla, the chief business officer at Careenet. Shulka tells India Today Tech, “Technical skill on its own won't get a student there. I'd rather see a student ship one end-to-end AI project than read ten papers about it — hackathons and open-source contributions are a great place to start.” Neelabh adds, “Employers are increasingly looking for candidates who understand the business context, not just the technical layer.” Can existing software engineers become FDE? The role of FDEs is attractive for students and freshers, but for existing software engineers as well. Considering the rapid changes in the job market, becoming an FDE could open new avenues. The question once again is, how do you do it? It is not uncommon for software engineers to switch to the role of a Forward Deployed Engineer. Tanmay Pandya, senior director, Newton School of Technology, says, “Many strong FDEs begin their careers as software engineers.” Tanmay explains that there is “no single mandatory course or certification,” While you can take courses to address specific skill gaps, things may largely depend on your experience. He adds, “Employers primarily look for engineers who have shipped reliable systems, worked through ambiguity, and solved real customer problems.
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