Goodfirms survey of 133 software firms: 70% already run an FDE function, but most FDEs work remotely, not on-site

Goodfirms, a B2B reviews platform, published Forward Deployed Engineering in 2026: What 133 Companies Reveal, based on a June–July 2026 survey of software, AI, IT services and consulting firms. 39.4% said they run FDE informally on specific engagements and 30.3% have a formal, named FDE team. Another 15.2% are building one.

The function usually doesn't sit on its own. Among companies with FDEs, 42.9% keep them inside solutions engineering and only 14.3% have a standalone team with its own reporting line. It is also mostly remote: 78.6% deploy engineers remotely while integrating them closely with client teams, and just 25.0% station them on-site full-time. 78.6% measure FDE success by business outcomes agreed up front, and 67.9% by time to production.

Hiring is the bottleneck. 85.7% of companies with an FDE function named finding engineers with both technical depth and business fluency as a top challenge, ahead of pricing engagements (60.7%). 57.1% said AI lets one engineer deliver more. 60.7% said the skill AI has made most valuable is enough business context to direct AI output and own the result, while only 14.3% picked raw coding speed. Respondents split evenly (39.4% each) on whether FDE becomes a standard function everywhere or stays a premium model for complex deals.

Why it matters for FDEs: many respondents are services and staffing firms, so the numbers describe FDE as an operating model more than the Palantir-style role. Still, the message for candidates is consistent: AI fluency is becoming a baseline, and commercial judgment is what separates hires. Goodfirms' salary table, drawn from Levels.fyi and Glassdoor rather than the survey, puts US FDE pay at about $170K junior to $330K senior.