Stage 1 · Lesson 5 of 7
Why demand grew with AI
are powerful but rarely useful to a large company straight away. They need the company's data, its systems, its and of whether answers are good enough. That last mile is exactly and solutions work.
AI companies have responded by building dedicated teams. OpenAI's postings describe FDEs owning discovery, scoping, system design, build and production rollout with customers. In June 2026 AWS announced a new forward deployed engineering organisation backed by a 1 billion dollar investment.
Demand is real, but it is concentrated in AI companies and large , and titles are being stretched to cover older roles.
Common trapassuming every posting with the new title is the same job, or that the demand will look the same in every market.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 2 cheat sheet entries come with the full roadmap. Unlock
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