Inside the buzzy world of forward-deployed engineers

Part buzzword and part prestige label, “forward-deployed engineer” (FDE) has become one of the most talked-about titles in AI hiring. US-based Palantir is widely credited with inventing the role, and now AI labs are racing to build their own field teams.

At its core, an FDE is an engineer employed by a tech firm like Palantir or OpenAI to work on-site with its clients. The FDE builds and adapts software to the company’s needs in real time rather than working off a prewritten brief at the head office.

But what does the job actually involve day to day, and how has it changed as underlying AI models get rebuilt every few months?

Image credit: Made by Tech in Asia with the help of AI

Sharan Thangavel is an FDE at OpenAI and previously held the same role at Palantir. He spoke with Tech in Asia about what FDEs actually do and how aspiring engineers can prepare for roles like his.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

How did you start your FDE career?

The NUS School of Computing equipped me with a robust technical foundation that opened up several pathways. I found myself getting more drawn to the “entrepreneurial software engineer” profile to be closer to where the impact of technology is ultimately realized.

Working at a startup in Silicon Valley firsthand through the NUS Overseas Colleges program has cemented this ambition.

I started my FDE career with Palantir. The role caught my eye, as it married deep technical expertise with a strong focus on real-world application and problem-solving. I wanted to work closely with end users and see solutions through to adoption, as opposed to developing software based on prewritten specifications.

After nearly five years as an FDE in the UK, Australia, the US, and now Singapore, the environments have changed, but that motivation has stayed constant.

Working at OpenAI for the past year has been incredibly exciting. I’ve had a chance to work on new solution patterns, paradigms, and novel ways of solving problems with quickly evolving AI capabilities – all while keeping them grounded in real-world impact.

What’s the interview process like for an FDE role at a place like OpenAI? What are they testing for that a normal engineering interview doesn’t?

FDE is a deeply technical role, so strong engineering fundamentals are essential. You need to be able to design, build, debug, and deploy robust systems – not just build demos. This is evaluated across a range of interviews, such as system design and technical deep-dives, where we ground our assessments in real-world examples and encourage candidates to reflect deeply on their own experience.