Tech Leadership

The ‘Forward Deployed Engineer’ Is Enterprise Software’s Most Expensive Lie

The Forward Deployed Engineer role is marketed as an elite technical asset, but it’s actually an expensive human patch covering up enterprise software’s fundamental flaws. For founders, it’s a warning: if a vendor requires a high-salary babysitter to make their SaaS function, you aren’t buying a product—you’re paying a tax for vendor lock-in and terrible UX design.

You’re Wrong About AI Coding. It’s Making Engineering Harder, Not Easier.

AI coding isn’t making engineering easier—it’s making it more demanding. The shift from Vibe Coding to Agentic Engineering means product managers and tech leads must evolve from prompt requesters to delivery verifiers. Those who master task contracts, output auditing, and process control will thrive. Those who just ask AI for a login page? They’re building a mountain of tech debt they don’t yet see coming.