Forward Deployed Engineering
The Forward Deployed Engineer, explained end to end
A working encyclopedia: how the role came about, how a deployment actually runs, what separates it from presales and consulting, and what practitioners have learned the hard way.
- 40
- articles
- 9
- sections
- 38
- primary sources
Find your way in
01I keep hearing “FDE”Start with what the role is, why it appeared in 2025–2026, and how it differs from the job titles next to it.Start here →02I want to become oneEntry routes, the capability model, portfolio evidence, and what interviewers actually probe.Careers →03I have to run a deploymentThe five-stage method, the artefacts each stage produces, and the checkpoints that keep scope honest.Method →04I need to hire or buyHow the role is priced, what a good brief looks like, and how to tell a deployment from an outsourcing contract.Market →
The encyclopedia
Nine sections, written to be read in order — but built to be jumped into.
Start here5What a Forward Deployed Engineer is, where the role came from, and how to tell it apart from presales and consulting.Careers and entry4Who becomes an FDE, how people actually get in, what the ladder looks like, and what the job pays.Skills and capability7The capability model: engineering depth, domain fluency, delivery judgment, and the parts of the job no course teaches.The delivery method9How a deployment actually runs: scoping, definition, build, handover, retreat — with the checkpoints that keep it honest.Case library2Anonymised deployments dissected the same way every time: the ask, the real problem, the build, the result, and what broke.Industry and market3Who is hiring, how the deployment company model works, what the Chinese market looks like, and where the money actually is.Toolkit5Reusable artefacts: discovery question sets, scoping templates, handover checklists, and the documents buyers actually sign.Glossary1The vocabulary of forward deployment, defined once so the rest of the site can use it precisely.Questions4The questions people actually ask before entering the field, answered without the sales voice.
Recently updated
- 2026-10-30FDE glossary: one rendering per termTwenty-two terms, one fixed translation each, and the three things this site will not let anyone rename.
- 2026-10-30Five stages, four handoversEach stage ends with an exit condition and a named artefact; projects die at the seam where that artefact never changes hands.
- 2026-10-30Halving bakery waste by asking for the numbersA 23-shop bakery chain cut annual waste from RMB 1.3m to 0.6m without new cameras, because the forecast was already sitting in its stores.
- 2026-10-30How people actually become forward deployed engineersSix capability areas, the evidence that proves each one, and why temperament — not the technology stack — is the scarcest input.
- 2026-10-30Is an FDE a pre-sales role?No. The job title decides nothing and the responsibility scope decides everything — four boundary rules and three questions to ask.
- 2026-10-30Six capabilities that only work togetherWhy the FDE capability model fails as a checklist, which combinations break first, and what evidence to demand in an interview.
The network
Demand, talent and skills in one open index. Post what you need, list what you can do, and see how the field is actually distributed.
The directory
Every public FDE handbook, open-source project, community and report we could verify — with what each one is actually good for.
Open the directory