The FDE Coach blog · new articles every day
Practical guides for engineers who ship AI.
Step-by-step builds with free AI tools, what just shipped in AI and why it matters, and Forward Deployed Engineer playbooks on interviews, pay and client work.
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Guides
Forward Deployed Engineer at Anthropic: The AI Safety Deployment Mission
Deep dive into the Anthropic FDE role: how it blends elite engineering with AI safety, the interview gauntlet, salary data, and the unique deployment mission.
10 min read
Guides
Skills to Become a Forward Deployed Engineer: Technical & Consulting Toolkit
Master the hybrid technical and consulting skills to become a Forward Deployed Engineer. A practical guide to the coding, systems, and business toolkit for FDEs in 2026.
10 min read
Guides
FDE Interview Prep: A Strategic Framework for Deployment & Systems Design
Master FDE interview prep with a deployment-first framework. Learn to navigate systems design, debugging, and integration rounds with the engineering rigor top firms demand.
13 min read
Forward Deployed
Senior FDE Salary at Databricks, Palantir, and Nvidia: Real Compensation Data
Dissecting real FDE compensation at Databricks, Palantir, and Nvidia. We break down base, equity, and the premium for engineering managers who bridge the gap between product and the battlefield.
8 min read
Forward Deployed
Case Study: Deploying an LLM Feature at an Enterprise Customer in 3 Weeks
A concrete walkthrough of shipping a secure RAG pipeline inside a Fortune 500 VPC. Real architecture, prompt engineering, and stakeholder management from a Forward Deployed Engineer.
9 min read
Forward Deployed
How Palantir-Style FDEs Embed with Customers: Ontology, Ownership, and Operational Friction
A concrete breakdown of how Forward Deployed Engineers embed inside customer operations, model their world with an ontology, own outcomes, and turn operational friction into software.
10 min read
Forward Deployed
The Highest-Leverage Skills for a Forward Deployed Engineer in the AI Era
Stop chasing every new model release. The highest-leverage FDE skills in the AI era are systems thinking, ruthless scope control, and building trust through concrete deliverables. Here's the exact skill stack that compounds.
10 min read
Forward Deployed
The FDE Portfolio: What to Build to Get Hired in the AI Era
Stop building to-do apps. A concrete guide to the 4 portfolio artifacts that signal FDE readiness—live data connectors, AI wrappers, demo scaffolds, and internal tools—with real scenarios and tools.
11 min read
Forward Deployed
Scaling Yourself: When an FDE Prototype Becomes a Core Engineering Handoff
Moving from quick win to production-grade system is the hardest transition in Forward Deployed Engineering. Here's the concrete playbook for scaling yourself without becoming the bottleneck.
10 min read
Forward Deployed
The Tools an FDE Ships With: Data Connectors, Integration Wrappers, and Demo Scaffolds
Forget polished SDKs. A Forward Deployed Engineer ships with a grab bag of tactical code: high-fidelity data connectors, thin integration wrappers, and demo scaffolds that close deals. Here's the exact toolkit.
12 min read
Forward Deployed
What a Forward Deployed Engineer Actually Does in a Week: Standups, Debugging, and Shipping
A real-world week-in-the-life of a Forward Deployed Engineer: from customer standups and debugging integration hell to shipping production code. Concrete workflows, tools, and comp numbers.
9 min read
AI News
How AirLLM Runs 70B Models on a 4GB GPU with Layer-Wise Loading
AirLLM inference explained: how layer-wise loading lets you run Llama 70B on a single 4GB GPU. Covers the engineering mechanics, memory math, and a balanced take on when it's actually useful for FDEs.
9 min read
AI News
Why LLMs Amplify the Output Gap Between Senior and Junior Engineers
LLMs aren't a leveling force—they're a force multiplier for expertise. Here's why senior engineers extract 10x more value from AI tools, and how to close the gap deliberately.
10 min read
AI News
Retyping LLM Code to Prevent Cognitive Debt: An Engineer's Deliberate Practice
Blindly copy-pasting AI-generated code creates dangerous cognitive debt. Discover why manually retyping LLM output forces comprehension, builds intuition, and makes you a more resilient engineer.
8 min read
AI News
When LLMs Hallucinate CVEs: The SQLite Vulnerability Report That Wasn't
A researcher used an LLM to generate a SQLite CVE report. The result was a masterclass in hallucination: plausible, detailed, and dangerously wrong. Here's what happened and why it matters for engineers shipping AI features.
10 min read
AI News
Qwen3.8-Max Coding Performance: Rethinking Local Dev Workflows
Qwen3.8-Max challenges proprietary coding models at a fraction of the cost. We break down the benchmarks, what it means for engineers shipping code, and how to run it locally today.
9 min read
Guides
Forward Deployed Engineer vs Professional Services: The Real Difference
Forward Deployed Engineer vs Professional Services isn't just semantics. One ships code, the other ships slide decks. Learn the key differences in scope, comp, and impact.
8 min read
Guides
How to Land AI Engineer Jobs with Visa Sponsorship: A Strategic Guide
A no-fluff guide to landing AI engineer jobs with visa sponsorship. Covers target markets, salary benchmarks, in-demand skills, and a strategic roadmap to beat the ATS.
9 min read
Guides
Forward Deployed Engineer Roadmap: From Zero to FDE in 2025
Master the Forward Deployed Engineer roadmap with this zero-to-FDE guide. Learn the exact skills, projects, and interview prep needed to break into the $200K+ role blending engineering and customer obsession.
10 min read
Guides
Senior AI Engineer Salary 2026: Real Data From Levels to FAANG
Senior AI Engineer salary data for 2026: base, equity, and total comp at FAANG, startups, and remote roles. See how specialization in LLMOps or inference pushes pay past $500K.
13 min read
Guides
Forward Deployed Engineer Skills: The 8-Pillar Toolkit That Gets You Hired
Master the forward deployed engineer skills that top tech companies demand. From systems thinking to customer empathy, this engineer-to-engineer guide breaks down the exact technical and human skills required to ship production code inside a burning building.
12 min read
Guides
AI Engineer Jobs Quereinsteiger: Your 2026 Career Switch Guide
A no-fluff guide for career switchers breaking into AI engineering. Covers skills, portfolio projects, salary data, and why the demand spike makes now the right time.
13 min read
Forward Deployed
How Palantir-Style FDEs Embed: Ownership, Ontology, and Operational Friction
A concrete playbook for engineers pursuing the Forward Deployed role. We break down the ontology-first mindset, the compensation reality, and how to weaponize operational friction to ship prototypes that actually survive contact with the enterprise.
9 min read
Forward Deployed
Building Trust with Non-Technical Stakeholders as an FDE: Translation, Transparency, and Tension
How Forward Deployed Engineers translate complexity, manage transparency during firefights, and weaponize healthy tension to build unshakeable trust with non-technical stakeholders.
8 min read
1,162 articles and counting