Become a Forward Deployed Engineer
An interactive course covering the complete path: what the role actually is, the four-part skill stack, the technical foundation, the deployment playbook, the portfolio, the interview, and a dated transition plan.
Your progress
0%
Loading your progress…
Progress is stored in your browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere and no account is needed.
This is a free, interactive online course on how to become a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE). It covers the definition of the role, the four-part skill stack (technical depth, business acumen, communication under pressure, high agency under ambiguity), the technical foundation of production Python, agents, integration servers and evaluation suites, a week-by-week deployment playbook, the five portfolio artefacts that signal readiness, the FDE interview format, and three realistic transition routes from student, software engineering or consulting backgrounds.
Curriculum
Eight modules, end to end
Each module has lessons, a practical exercise you can ship, curated video searches, and a short quiz.
What a Forward Deployed Engineer actually is
The role, why it exists, and how it differs from every adjacent job title
15 min5 lessonsThe four-part skill stack
Technical depth, business acumen, communication under pressure, high agency
18 min6 lessonsThe technical foundation
The exact stack to build, and the four artefacts that prove it
20 min6 lessonsBusiness and stakeholder fluency
Reading an organisation as accurately as you read a codebase
16 min5 lessonsThe deployment playbook
Week-by-week: from first conversation to a system people use
20 min5 lessonsThe portfolio that gets interviews
Five artefacts that prove FDE capability, not just coding ability
16 min7 lessonsThe FDE interview
Enterprise system design, behavioural depth, and live decomposition
18 min5 lessonsYour transition plan
Three routes in, where to look, and the honest fit filter
17 min6 lessonsWho it is for
Engineers, consultants, analysts and students moving into applied AI delivery.
What you will build
An integration server, a resilient agent, an eval suite, ADRs and a post-mortem.
Where it leads
A portfolio and interview readiness — then a listing on the HireAFDE network.
Frequently asked questions
Get new modules and FDE insights
We add lessons, exercises and hiring insight as the role evolves.
Describe your AI project. Meet the right FDE.
Tell us what you need to build, automate or integrate. A person reviews every requirement.