FDE Times: news, analysis and the roadmap for Forward Deployed Engineers
Guides
Build a webhook receiver that withstands forged signatures, replays and duplicate events
Stripe can resend the same event for up to three days, with a new signature each time. A time window cannot stop those duplicates, so your receiver needs a separate line of defence.
Top stories
Spotlight
Books & courses
Read Marty Cagan's Inspired and stop running a feature factory for your customers
Marty Cagan writes for product managers, but his thinking names the trap FDEs fall into most often: shipping every feature on the customer's list without knowing what problem has been solved.
News & analysis
When the word "resolved" decides an agent's revenue
The FDE CV: drop the framework list, state deployment results with a baseline
When AI writes code at scale, FDEs are paid to own the outcome
The first FDE team: when to hire, what to measure and when to add an FDE Lead
From FDE to founder: which habits carry over and which must be relearned
Kubeflow or SageMaker, Vertex AI, Azure ML: ask who will run the pipeline before comparing features
FDE jobs
Video
Forward Deployed Engineer (Book) — Chapter 7: Field Notes & Real-World Deployments
Forward Deployed Engineer vs. Standard Software Developer: The Ultimate Guide
Forward Deployed Engineer Roles at Anthropic, OpenAI, AWS & Microsoft Explained
The New Forward Deployed Engineer FDE Role Explained || OpenAI, Google & Anthropic HiringThe roadmap to becoming an FDE
8 stages, each with explainers, reading and things to do.
01
Foundations
Understand the role and how an FDE creates value.
02
Broad engineering
Handle everything from data and APIs to infrastructure yourself.
03
Applied AI
Use LLMs and agents to solve real problems.
04
Customers
Find the real problem and communicate clearly.
05
Deployment
Put the solution into production with real data.
06
Measurement
Prove value with the numbers customers care about.
07
Leadership
Run the project and feed lessons back to the product team.
08
Career
Build a portfolio and get through FDE interviews.
FDE this week
Every Monday morning: what mattered in the trade, new pieces, and one skill worth learning this week. A five-minute read.