Embedded in your team
Your FDE joins your standups, your Slack and your repositories. They learn the workflow from the people who run it, not from a requirements document.
Industry · Forward Deployed Engineering
Forward Deployed Engineers Who Ship Inside Your Business
Arcforth's forward deployed engineers embed with your team, learn the workflow first-hand and ship production software against your real systems, backed by a full product, design and AI squad.
- Embedded in days
- Production code from week one
- AI, SaaS and enterprise
- Dubai · US · UK
04 Weeks
Skalix AI, build to launch
$3B+
Spend managed on CollectiveSpend
28K+
Attendees run through Mesmeride
03 Months
Livespace.ai to 2.8K users
THE ROLE
What a Forward Deployed Engineer Does
An FDE is a senior software engineer who works inside your business, learns the workflow where it happens and ships production software there. It is the model Palantir made famous, now essential for AI and enterprise products.
Ships to production
Not a consultant who hands over slides. FDEs write, test and release production code against your real data, systems and users.
Owns the outcome
Each deployment is tied to a measurable result, a workflow automated, a release shipped or a pilot converted, agreed before the first sprint.
Turns domain into product
FDEs sit between your operators and the codebase, translating messy real-world processes into software that people actually adopt.
WHERE WE DEPLOY
Forward Deployed Engineers in Dubai, the US and the UK
Each market has its own regulations, working hours and buying habits. Pick yours to see how we deploy there.
Forward Deployed Engineers in Dubai
The UAE moves fast and expects enterprise-grade delivery. Our FDEs have already shipped for UAE clients and understand how products get adopted here.
Explore Dubai →
Forward Deployed Engineers in the US
Senior engineers are expensive and slow to hire in the US. Arcforth gives you embedded, production-grade engineering capacity in days, at a fraction of the cost.
Explore US →
Forward Deployed Engineers in the UK
UK products live under real regulatory scrutiny. Our FDEs ship quickly without cutting the corners that matter to compliance teams.
Explore UK →WHAT GETS SHIPPED
Production Software, Not Slideware
Every deployment ends in software your users run every day: dashboards, workflows, apps and AI agents, released into your environment week by week.
THE COMPARISON
FDE vs Agency vs In-House Hire
PROOF
Deployed on Real Products
The same engineers you would embed built these products end to end, from the first workflow to production.
AI · Revenue Tech
Skalix AI
An AI-native revenue platform for calls, chat and customer follow-up.
Read the case study →Procurement · Automation
CollectiveSpend
A tailored procurement platform spanning sourcing, RFQs and purchase orders.
Read the case study →
Event Tech · Event Management
Mesmeride
Registration, ticketing, attendee engagement and event operations in one platform.
Read the case study →HOW IT WORKS
From First Call to Shipped Software
- STEP 01
Scope
One working session to pick the workflow, the success metric and the systems the FDE needs access to.
- STEP 02
Deploy
An FDE is embedded within days, with a senior product lead behind them and the wider Arcforth squad on call.
- STEP 03
Ship
Weekly releases into your environment. You see working software every week, never a status report alone.
- STEP 04
Hand over or scale
Hand the work to your team with documentation and context, or add capacity as the product grows.
ENGAGEMENT
Start Small or Deploy a Full Unit
Product Pilot
$1,499 once
One workflow, core flows and a prototype, with build-ready requirements. The fastest way to test fit before deploying an FDE.
Product Squad
$3,490 / month
Ongoing product direction, design and engineering with an embedded engineer working inside your roadmap.
Embedded Product Unit
From $5,000 / month
Dedicated forward deployed engineers for larger products and multiple workstreams, scaled to your roadmap.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Forward Deployed Engineering, Answered
Straight answers to what teams ask before embedding an engineer.
What is a forward deployed engineer?
A forward deployed engineer (FDE) is a software engineer who works directly inside a customer's business, alongside the people who run the workflow, and ships production software there. The role was popularised by companies like Palantir and is now common in AI and enterprise software, where the hardest problems only show up in real data and real operations.
How is an FDE different from a consultant or an agency developer?
A consultant advises and an agency developer builds to a spec from outside. An FDE is embedded: they join your rituals and tools, discover the real requirements on the ground, and are accountable for shipping working software that gets used.
When should a company hire forward deployed engineers?
When you are rolling out an AI or software product into complex operations, integrating with legacy systems, converting enterprise pilots into production deployments, or need senior engineering capacity faster than you can hire it.
How quickly can an Arcforth FDE start?
Typically within days of a scoping session, once access to the relevant tools and systems is agreed.
Do your FDEs work with AI and LLM products?
Yes. Our engineers have shipped AI voice agents, generative spatial AI and agentic procurement workflows to production, including evaluation, guardrails and human review steps.
