Untangle the taxonomy
The Forward Deployed Glossary
The naming is genuinely confusing right now — a new acronym every quarter. Here's every term that matters, defined once. No Wikipedia page exists for most of these yet.
- FDEForward Deployed Engineer
- An engineer embedded directly with a customer — configuring the platform, building workflows around real users, and keeping the deployment healthy — rather than shipping generic software over the wall. Coined at Palantir in 2011.
- Seen at Palantir, OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, DeepMind, Databricks
- FDXForward Deployed [anything]
- The generalisation of the FDE model beyond engineering. The “X” stands in for whatever function has been embedded — PM, data science, design, legal, finance.
- Seen at Umbrella term
- FDPMForward Deployed Product Manager
- The product-management version of the embedded model — owning the customer relationship and the roadmap for a deployment.
- Seen at Scale AI, Salesforce, LotusFlare
- FDDForward Deployed Designer
- A designer embedded with a customer to shape workflows and interfaces around their real use, not a generic design system.
- Seen at Blitzy
- FDRForward Deployed Recruiter
- A recently-coined label for an embedded, high-context recruiter who specialises in staffing Forward Deployed roles — backed by AI tooling, not replaced by it. Currently used by two vendors (Lateral, Sxaler); a real but unproven bet on a name.
- Seen at Sxaler, Lateral
- Deployment Strategist
- A Palantir-lineage title, adjacent to FDE, focused on the strategy of a client deployment rather than its engineering.
- Seen at Palantir
- Talent Strategist
- Palantir's current generalist recruiting title — notable because it is what the company uses instead of a dedicated “FDE recruiter” title, despite a historically strong internal FDE-hiring function.
- Seen at Palantir
- Forward Deployed Accountant / Lawyer / Banker
- Real, live titles (FloQast, Eudia, Rogo) proving the naming convention has genuinely detached from engineering.
- Seen at FloQast, Eudia, Rogo
New titles keep appearing.
We add them here as they show up in real postings — and tell subscribers first.