Hello Reader,

A new job type is getting very popular, called FDE or Forward Deployed Engineer. One of my SA Bootcamper recently cracked FDE role in Google. In this newsletter, we are going to go over what qualities you need to become an FDE, and how to crack the interview.

Here's a real requirement pulled straight from an FDE listing:

Own delivery across multiple deployments from first prototype to stable production. Scope work, sequence delivery, and remove blockers early. Make trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality. Embed with customer teams to guide adoption. Simplify complexity under pressure. Communicate across engineering, product, and customer stakeholders.

Read that again slowly. There are a lot of overlap of the FDE responsibilities with another popular role - Solutions Architect.

The Bad: Companies Are Selling This as a Brand New Career Path

Job boards and LinkedIn influencers are treating FDE like it appeared out of nowhere, a fresh category requiring a fresh set of skills. That framing gets people chasing certifications and courses that don't actually move the needle, while the real qualifying experience sits in a completely different bucket than where they're searching.

The Good: FDE Is Just SA Work With a Coding Layer on Top

Map the requirements side by side and the overlap is almost exact.

Deriving scope from chaos: the FDE posting asks for scoping and sequencing work while removing blockers early. SAs do this constantly. The messier the project, the more the organization needs someone who can cut through ambiguity and define what actually needs to get built.

That's exactly what's happening in Gen AI right now. Customers don't know which agentic pattern to use, whether to build on MCP, or which framework to commit to. The FDE steps into that fog and creates clarity.

In the FDE interviews, you'd have system design on Gen AI, AND behavioral round, just like SA interviews.

The Delight: You Already Have Most of This

FDE = Coding + SA Skills + Gen AI

The one real gap is hands-on coding, and Python leads the way here. Most Gen AI SDKs, examples, and agent frameworks are Python-first, so if you already know it, you're in strong shape. Expect Leetcode in the FDE interview.

JavaScript and comparable stacks work too, but Python gives you the most leverage in the current ecosystem.

What This Means for Solutions Architects

If you're already an SA, a senior tech lead driving cross-functional projects, or someone with deep infrastructure experience even in on-prem environments, this transition is genuinely reachable. Your core skills transfer directly. Closing the coding gap is a focused, learnable project, not a career restart.

Best part is - when you prepare the components, it keeps you open for BOTH SA and FDE roles.

Three ways to move on this:

1. Prepare system design tradeoffs, including Gen AI components
2. Start building hands-on Python code if you're coming from a non-coding SA background.
3. Do NOT ignore behavioral and executive communication. Any FDE interview at the top companies will have these rounds

My SA Bootcamp cohorts now include Gen AI concepts needed to crack FDE and AI Architect interviews, in addition to SA interviews. We have multiple students who cracked AI roles. Current cohort is sold out, and next cohort launches 10/17. Join the waitlist to be first in when the next cohort opens.

Keep learning and keep rocking 🚀,

Raj

P.S - If you want to get an AWS Solutions Architect job without coding or learning every AWS service, the 9th cohort for AWS SA Bootcamp is launching on Oct 17th, 12 PM ET (Eastern Time) via live workshop. This program now includes our updated GenAI curriculum. Please register below:

Here’s what you get when you show up LIVE:

1. The myths keeping most people stuck - and what actually gets you hired as an SA - I've conducted over 300 SA interviews, so I know what I'm talking about!
2. How GenAI is reshaping the SA roles, and the exact AI concepts (RAG, agents, MCP, eval etc.) you need to speak fluently in interviews.
3. A first look at my new product feature, built to help you practice real-world, interview-relevant hands-on work instead of copy-paste tutorials.
4. Full bootcamp breakdown for Cohort 9, plus a special offer only for live attendees.
5. My exclusive Solutions Architect framework to prep you for today's job market! But if you’re not live, you won’t get it. No second chances.

And good news - it already worked for last cohort's students who secured cloud jobs in top companies, including at AWS, Microsoft, Google, JPMorgan, Reddit, and some of them didn't even have cloud experience 💰.

Spots are limited, so don't miss it!