Forward Deployed Engineers: Code & Commercial Impact
Forward Deployed Engineers: Code & Commercial Impact
The FDE is having a moment. Every serious AI company is either hiring them or figuring out why they should be.
The model is simple in theory: send your best engineers directly into customers, have them ship production code on-site, and let the product improve from the inside out. In practice, it's one of the hardest roles to hire for and one of the most valuable to get right.
For this Dex Session, we've brought together three people who've done it at the highest level — across defence, AI, enterprise software and government — to get specific about what the role actually demands.
We'll cover:
What separates an FDE from a solutions engineer or consultant
The technical bar, and what "good" really looks like on the ground
How FDEs shape product roadmap from the field
Why this is increasingly the fastest path to founding or leading product
Who should pursue this path, and who shouldn't
Speakers
Marc Barker — Head of Deployments at Augur, ex-Helsing, ex-Palantir
Robert Shearme — Forward Deployed Engineer at Palantir
Francis Webb — Justice AI, Ministry of Justice
Moderated by Anjor Kanekar — former Palantir FDE and hiring manager, now helping companies build FDE functions through Platypus Technologies.
This one is for engineers who want real customer proximity, genuine commercial ownership, and a front-row seat to how consequential products get built.
Approved registration required.