Vendors asking forward deployed engineers to make good on trillion-dollar AI bet

Technology vendors are rapidly expanding teams of forward deployed engineers (FDEs) to help customers build and deploy AI systems. The approach could give businesses access to scarce engineering expertise, but it also raises concerns about protecting intellectual property and becoming dependent on a vendor.

AWS has committed $1 billion to a new FDE unit, while Anthropic has pledged $100 million to train FDEs; SAP, Salesforce and Workday are also pursuing the model. US FDEs receive median annual total compensation of $216,250, and Salesforce says customers using its FDEs deploy its AI technology 33 per cent faster. Gartner advises customers to define the work, ownership and exit plans in advance.