What this site is
The Forward Deployed is an independent curriculum for software engineers evaluating and preparing for Forward Deployed Engineer roles. It focuses on the work standard SWE preparation misses: customer discovery, ambiguous scoping, production AI, integration, adoption, and handover.
Who writes and reviews it
Pages are produced by The Forward Deployed editorial team. The site does not claim private access to employer interview loops. Where a named practitioner has not reviewed a page, it does not imply one has. Company-specific claims are tied to public sources, and thin evidence is labeled rather than upgraded into certainty.
Source hierarchy
- Primary sources: official job postings, employer documentation, customer stories, research, and public company material.
- First-person sources: named practitioner or candidate accounts, treated as one person's experience rather than universal process.
- Independent reporting and analysis: used to compare companies, roles, and operating models.
- Commercial interview guides and anonymous forums: used cautiously, corroborated where possible, and labeled as guide-level or anecdotal evidence.
How synthesis is labeled
Public sources rarely expose a complete customer engagement or interview loop. When a page reconstructs a day, converts public signals into a practice case, or applies production-AI principles to an interview, it says so. Real deployment pages distinguish documented facts from the site's interpretation and leave unsupported details blank.
Freshness and corrections
Role requirements, compensation bands, model pricing, and interview formats change quickly. Pages show a review date, time-sensitive numbers carry source dates, and readers should confirm live postings before making career or compensation decisions. Corrections should identify the page, statement, and a public supporting source so the editorial record can be updated transparently.