About FDE Hub
Why subscribe?
I work as a Forward Deployed Engineer. Over the past year that has meant more than fifteen parallel client engagements across logistics, wholesale, manufacturing, insurance and finance. When the same problem shows up in five different industries wearing different disguises, I write about the pattern.
Most content about AI deployment comes from two places: VCs theorising about market shifts, or vendors selling solutions. Neither of them is in the room when the project stalls because nobody wrote down how the business actually works. Neither of them sees what happens when a 94% accurate system sits unused for three months because operators don’t trust it.
I’m in that room every week.
This newsletter is about the craft of Forward Deployed Engineering: the practical realities of deploying AI in real businesses, the meta-skills that matter more than the code, and an honest account of what works and what doesn’t.
What you’ll get
Essays every Tuesday, drawn from live deployments. The trust gap that makes perfectly good AI sit unused for months. The operational logic that lives in someone’s head and nowhere else. Why projects take four times longer than they should, and it’s never because the technology is hard. When to walk away from a project before it drains everyone involved. The messy middle where most AI projects actually live, the parts that don’t fit neatly into a product demo or a case study.
Interviews every Thursday with the people doing this work: FDE practitioners and leaders from Palantir, Sierra, Ramp, Cresta, Baseten, HappyRobot and others, talking honestly about a role that’s still being defined in real time.
And the occasional bigger project. The State of Forward Deployed Engineering analysed 2,000 practitioner profiles, the most comprehensive study of the role published to date. I’ve presented this work at the FDE Conference in San Francisco.
Who this is for
Fellow FDEs trying to get better at this job. There’s no playbook; we’re all figuring it out as we go.
Founders and CTOs considering building FDE teams: what actually works, what doesn’t, and the questions to ask before you hire.
Engineers curious about the career path. It isn’t for everyone, and an honest picture helps you decide.
AI startup operators bridging the gap between building and deploying. The gap is wider than most people think.
Join the conversation
The job descriptions are vague, expectations vary wildly between companies, and half the industry isn’t sure what to call us. We’re writing the playbook together.
If you’re an FDE, I want to hear what’s working and what’s not. If you’re trying to become one, ask questions. If you’re hiring for the role, let’s figure out what you actually need. Reply to any email, I read them all.
