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Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) Program

For engineers who need to own the full arc — from ambiguous client problem to production outcome

CustomInstructor-led Workshop
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Program Overview

What This Program Covers

The Forward Deployed Engineer program builds the complete FDE skill set: the technical depth to design and ship production-grade AI systems, and the consulting capability to own discovery, scope ambiguous problems, manage stakeholders across technical and executive audiences, and take accountability for outcomes. Every technical module starts from a messy stakeholder brief — not a clean spec — because that is the reality of the role. Each cohort works deeply in one industry vertical (financial services, healthcare, insurance, or supply chain) so learners develop genuine domain fluency alongside their technical and consulting skills. The program is designed for engineers who want to carry the full arc of an engagement — from the first ambiguous client complaint through to a production system with an adoption plan the client will actually execute.

What You'll Learn

  1. 1Turn ambiguous business complaints into testable specifications — and push back on client framing when it's wrong
  2. 2Design and deploy production-grade agentic AI systems directly in client environments
  3. 3Manage stakeholders across technical and executive audiences simultaneously
  4. 4Own discovery and scoping without a PM — negotiate requirements and set expectations that hold
  5. 5Develop deep domain fluency in one industry vertical: its workflows, regulations, and failure modes
  6. 6Build reusable delivery playbooks and implementation intelligence that compounds across engagements
  7. 7Defend trade-offs, framing decisions, and adoption plans to skeptical senior stakeholders

Outline

Program Snapshot

Module 1 — The FDE Role and Consulting Foundations

  • ›What separates an FDE from a strong engineer: the consulting half of the role
  • ›Turning a messy stakeholder complaint into a scoped, testable problem statement
  • ›Stakeholder mapping: identifying decision-makers, blockers, and hidden requirements
  • ›Expectation setting and requirement negotiation — including pushing back when the client is wrong
  • ›Lab: given a vague executive brief, produce a scoped problem statement and present it back

Module 2 — Enterprise AI Foundations in Client Context

  • ›Generative AI and LLM fundamentals applied to a real domain workflow brief
  • ›Prompt engineering and context management at production scale
  • ›AI governance, security, and responsible deployment framed as client conversations
  • ›Selecting the right model and architecture — and explaining the trade-offs to a non-technical stakeholder
  • ›Lab: start from a domain-specific stakeholder brief, design the AI approach, and present the recommendation

Module 3 — Agentic AI Systems and RAG in Domain Context

  • ›Designing agentic AI systems grounded in the cohort's industry vertical workflows
  • ›Retrieval-Augmented Generation architecture and implementation for domain-specific data
  • ›Multi-agent orchestration patterns for real enterprise use cases
  • ›Translating system design decisions into language executives and compliance teams can evaluate
  • ›Lab: build an agentic system from a domain-specific brief with a stakeholder review checkpoint

Module 4 — Cloud Architecture, Data Engineering, and Delivery

  • ›Cloud infrastructure for AI delivery: AWS, Azure, and GCP patterns
  • ›Data pipelines, ETL/ELT, and data architecture for the cohort's domain vertical
  • ›CI/CD for AI systems: containerization, deployment automation, and rollback planning
  • ›Communicating architecture decisions and trade-offs across technical and business audiences
  • ›Lab: scope and build a delivery architecture from a domain brief, defend the approach to a mock technical review

Module 5 — Domain Immersion

  • ›Deep immersion in the cohort's chosen vertical: financial services, healthcare, insurance, or supply chain
  • ›Industry-specific workflows, regulatory constraints, data patterns, and failure modes
  • ›How domain knowledge changes what you build, how you scope, and how you sell the solution
  • ›Working with domain SMEs: what to ask, what to validate, and when to push back
  • ›Lab: complete a domain-specific discovery session with an industry SME and produce a scoped recommendation

Module 6 — Stakeholder Management and Outcome Ownership

  • ›Managing technical and executive stakeholders simultaneously across a live engagement
  • ›Adoption planning: what makes the difference between a system that gets used and one that doesn't
  • ›Communicating bad news, scope changes, and trade-offs without losing client confidence
  • ›Outcome ownership: taking accountability for results, not just deliverables
  • ›Lab: navigate a simulated mid-engagement crisis — scope change, technical blocker, and stakeholder conflict — simultaneously

Capstone — Defended Engagement

  • ›Teams receive an ambiguous domain-specific brief and carry it from discovery to production system
  • ›Final presentation defends framing decisions, trade-offs, and adoption plan to a hostile-ish review panel
  • ›Panel includes technical reviewers, a mock executive stakeholder, and a domain SME
  • ›Passing requires defending the why, not just demonstrating the what
  • ›Deliverables: scoped problem statement, production system, adoption plan, and trade-off defense

Who This Is For

  • Software engineers and consultants moving into client-facing AI delivery roles
  • AI engineers who need to develop the consulting and stakeholder management skills the role demands
  • Technical leads at consulting firms and system integrators building FDE capability
  • Organizations building an internal Forward Deployed Engineering practice
  • Engineers preparing for FDE roles at companies like AWS, Databricks, Anthropic, Deloitte, or Accenture

Prerequisites

  • Solid programming experience in Python, Java, or similar language
  • Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
  • Basic understanding of software engineering and systems design
  • Comfort working in ambiguous, client-facing situations
  • No prior FDE or consulting experience required

Bring This Program to Your Team

Every bILTup program is fully customized to your team's tech stack, goals, and timeline. Tell us about your team and we'll design something built specifically for you.

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