Stage 1 · Lesson 1 of 7
What a forward deployed engineer does
A (FDE) is a software engineer who works inside a customer's organisation and builds working software on the customer's own systems and data. Palantir popularised the title, and its engineers in the role were nicknamed Deltas.
Palantir frames the difference as "": a product engineer builds one feature for many customers, while an FDE builds many things for one customer. Day to day that means with users, data pipelines, integrations, AI workflows and fixes, followed by feedback to the product team about what should become product. The role is judged on software that people actually use.
Common trappicturing a consultant who advises: FDEs write and ship code, often more of it and faster than product teams do.
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Resources for this stage
Start with
- GuideFreeThe Pragmatic Engineer
Gergely Orosz
Free issues cover how forward deployed and customer-facing engineering roles work at real companies
Also worth your time
The free part explains the role's origins and how it differs from solutions engineering