Forward Deployed Engineer

FDEs (a Palantir-coined role now common at AI and infra companies) embed with a single major customer to integrate the product into the customer's environment, build custom workflows, and unblock value. Half engineer, half consultant, often the highest-paid IC role at the company.

On a customer's VPN by 9am, building an integration with their internal data, jumping on a call with their security team, and writing the playbook for the next deployment.