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The FDE Handbook

Forward Deployed Engineer: A Field Manual for Enterprise AI

Do the unscalable, at scale.

95% of AI projects stall between demo and production — data access won't plug in, results can't be proven, costs run away, and frontline staff don't adopt. This book covers the craft of closing that gap: the Forward Deployed Engineer's role, methods, and engineering practice.

By Richard Xu (许良) · 28 chapters · Six parts · English & Chinese

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Contents

Front Matter

  1. Preface Where Do AI Projects Actually Get Stuck?
  2. Author's Preface
  3. Copyright

Part One · Role and Boundaries

  1. Part Introduction What an FDE Actually Is
  2. Chapter 1 What an FDE Actually Is — What Result Is This Person on the Hook For?
  3. Chapter 2 FDE vs. Presales, Consulting, Outsourcing, and Customer Success — What's the Actual Test?
  4. Chapter 3 Is FDE Just Outsourcing in a New Coat, or a Passing Trend?
  5. Chapter 4 Why Is Everyone Talking About FDE in 2026?
  6. Chapter 5 Will AI Replace the FDE?

Part Two · From Discovery to Production

  1. Part Introduction How the Problem Gets Solved
  2. Chapter 6 On-Site at the Customer — How Do You Find a Problem Worth Solving?
  3. Chapter 7 What Actually Counts as a "Minimum Viable Deployment" — Not Just Another Demo?
  4. Chapter 8 What's the Answer to "So, When Can This Go Live"?

Part Three · Engineering Foundations

  1. Part Introduction Engineering Foundations
  2. Chapter 9 How Many Walls Stand Between PoC and Production?
  3. Chapter 10 How to Wire Up Data and Permissions — Usable Without Losing Control
  4. Chapter 11 How to Constrain What an Agent Can Do — Enough to Trust It in Production
  5. Chapter 12 How to Build an Evaluation System from Zero
  6. Chapter 13 What Proves You Right When the Customer Pushes Back
  7. Chapter 14 What to Do About Runaway Bills and Jitter

Part Four · Adoption and Handoff

  1. Part Introduction The Real Work Begins After Go-Live
  2. Chapter 15 It Shipped — So Why Is No One Using It?
  3. Chapter 16 Why AI Adoption Has to Be an Executive-Sponsored Project
  4. Chapter 17 How to Hand Off So the Customer Can Run It Themselves
  5. Chapter 18 Why China Plays by Different Rules

Part Five · Business and Productization

  1. Part Introduction How Does This Business Actually Work?
  2. Chapter 19 Why "Hire a Few FDEs" Is a Big-Ledger Decision, Not a Small One
  3. Chapter 20 How to Charge: By the Day, by Scope, or by Result?
  4. Chapter 21 Why Does the Nth Customer's Customization Volume Have to Decline?
  5. Chapter 22 How Does Field Experience Become Product Capability?

Part Six · People and Organization

  1. Part Introduction People and Organization
  2. Chapter 23 What Does an FDE Actually Do?
  3. Chapter 24 What Kind of Person Is Cut Out for FDE?
  4. Chapter 25 How Should an Engineer Make the Transition to FDE?
  5. Chapter 26 How Do You Build an FDE Team?
  6. Chapter 27 Can an Individual Do FDE Alone?
  7. Chapter 28 What Is the Endgame for FDE?

Appendix

  1. Appendix A FDE Delivery Checklists
  2. Appendix B Glossary
  3. Appendix C Sources and Citation Notes