Delivery model · FDE
Forward Deployed Engineers who stay until the problem is solved.
Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) work right alongside your operations, product or business teams. They learn how the work really gets done, build on your data and systems, and stay until the problem is solved and the solution is live and delivering value. Then we scale it through a pod.
- On-site or remote
- Senior, full-stack AI engineers
- Outcome ownership
Why FDE
Built for the messy middle of enterprise AI
The hardest part of AI adoption is rarely the model. It’s access, data, integration, edge cases and change management. FDEs are built for exactly that.
Close to your users
FDEs work next to the people doing the job, so they design for the real workflow, not an idealized one.
Fast feedback loops
Daily feedback from users replaces months of requirements documents. Working software shows up in days.
Inside your security perimeter
They access your systems and data under your security controls, so your data never leaves your environment.
Accountable for outcomes
Success is measured by adoption and business impact, not tickets closed or hours logged.
The FDE profile
Part engineer, part consultant, fully hands-on
Full-stack + AI engineering
Builds LLM apps, agents, integrations and UIs without waiting on other teams.
Domain discovery
Talks with users, maps processes and turns ambiguity into a clear build plan.
Data & integration
Works through legacy systems, APIs and data quality issues to get solutions connected.
Change & enablement
Trains users, gathers feedback and builds internal champions to drive adoption.
How an FDE engagement runs
Embed, ship, scale
- 01
Week 1
Embed
Your FDE joins the team, gets access, shadows the workflow and agrees on the target outcome with your sponsors.
- 02
Weeks 2–4
Ship a first win
A working solution in users’ hands. Small in scope, real in impact, with feedback loops in place.
- 03
Months 2–3
Harden & expand
Production hardening, a security review, monitoring and extension to related use cases.
- 04
Month 3+
Scale through a pod
Proven solutions move to an AI Pod to scale and operate, while your FDE moves on to the next opportunity.
FAQ
Forward Deployed Engineering: FAQs
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Book a call and ask us directly.
A Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) is a senior software engineer who embeds with a customer’s business team to build and deploy solutions in that customer’s environment. Palantir made the model popular, and it’s now one of the most common ways companies deploy enterprise AI.
Staff augmentation gives you people who take direction and bill hours. FDEs are senior engineers who own a business outcome, lead discovery themselves and are measured on adoption and impact. They also bring DJ Computing.IO’s reusable accelerators and a full delivery team behind them.
They can. FDEs work on-site, remotely or hybrid, whatever suits you. Many engagements start with an on-site discovery week, followed by remote delivery with regular on-site check-ins.
We work with companies across the US, with a focus on New York (including New York City), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) and Texas (Dallas, Houston and Austin). FDEs can join you on-site for discovery weeks and key milestones, and work remotely on overlapping hours in between.
Choose an FDE when the problem is ambiguous, the workflow is complex, or you need to prove value quickly in a new area. Choose an AI Pod when the scope is clearer and you want to scale delivery with outcome-based pricing. Many of our clients start with an FDE and then move to a pod.
Keep exploring