New Delhi, Aug. 3 -- A forward deployed engineer (FDE), a term that comes from Palantir, which made the role its entire go-to-market strategy, is neither a consultant, nor a developer in the traditional sense.

The FDE sits with the client, understands what the business really needs, identifies what an AI tool can actually do, and then builds a bridge between the two.

It is a role that requires the ability to write production code, diagnose business processes and tolerate operating in environments where requirements are unclear and IT infrastructure is 20 years old.

The profile is rare. The market has priced it accordingly, with total compensation at mid-level running between $300,000 and $400,000 annually at the American AI firms that ...