BeyondlexAcademyLearner workspace
Courses/FDE

Intermediate course

Forward
Deployed
Engineer

Work where the problem is still unclear.

Learn to take an ambiguous customer problem from discovery to a deployed, adopted AI system—combining engineering depth, product judgment, and the discipline to own the outcome.

Enroll and begin ↗
LevelIntermediate
FormatProject-led · cohort ready
Commitment8 modules · ~32 hours
StatusEnrollment open

The course

“The work begins before the specification exists—and ends only when the system is used.”

Software, data, and AI engineers who can build a small application and want to learn how to own an uncertain customer outcome. Every module is organized around applied evidence rather than passive completion.

Curriculum / 08 modules

From first question
to working outcome.

01The FDE operating model+

Role boundaries, outcome ownership, ambiguity, and knowing when custom deployment is the wrong answer.

Lessons
  1. What an FDE actually owns
  2. What an FDE actually owns
  3. Proximity without becoming an order-taker
  4. Proximity without becoming an order-taker
  5. The conditions for saying no
  6. The conditions for saying no
Field artifactOperating principles and engagement risk review
02Discovery and problem framing+

Find the workflow beneath the request, identify the decision-makers, and define evidence of success.

Lessons
  1. Interviewing for evidence
  2. Mapping the current workflow
  3. From request to testable problem
Field artifactDiscovery brief and problem statement
03Technical discovery+

Interrogate systems, data, permissions, security, integration surfaces, and deployment constraints early.

Lessons
  1. Reading the environment
  2. Testing the data
  3. Feasibility spikes that answer something
Field artifactSystem map, data assessment, and risk register
04Solution design and scoping+

Choose the smallest end-to-end slice that reveals whether the proposed system can create value safely.

Lessons
  1. Workflow before AI
  2. The thin vertical slice
  3. Scoping with uncertainty visible
Field artifactSolution brief, ADR, and delivery plan
05Building with the customer+

Use short feedback loops, working demonstrations, and decision records to move through changing requirements.

Lessons
  1. The demo as a decision tool
  2. Handling changed requirements
  3. Writing decisions down
Field artifactWorking prototype and stakeholder demo memo
06Production AI systems+

Grounding, evaluation, permissions, observability, failure handling, latency, and cost in one operating system.

Lessons
  1. Designing the evaluation
  2. Human approval and access control
  3. Operating the model in reality
Field artifactEvaluated system with a safety and permission model
07Deployment and adoption+

A deployment is unfinished until real users can adopt it, trust it, and recover when it fails.

Lessons
  1. Rollout and training
  2. Measuring adoption
  3. Support, incidents, and handoff
Field artifactLaunch plan and operational runbook
08The field engagement+

Take a simulated customer packet from conflicting interviews and messy data to a deployed demo and executive review.

Lessons
  1. Discovery under pressure
  2. Build and harden
  3. Executive review and retrospective
Field artifactDeployed system, engagement dossier, evaluation report, and presentation

What changes

You leave able to own the whole engagement.

  1. 01Turn an unclear customer request into a testable problem definition
  2. 02Design a thin vertical prototype around the riskiest assumption
  3. 03Build and evaluate a production-shaped AI workflow
  4. 04Communicate tradeoffs across technical and executive stakeholders
  5. 05Deploy, observe, document, and hand off an adopted system

Who it is for

Strong builders moving closer to the problem.

Software, data, and AI engineers who can build a small application and want to learn how to own an uncertain customer outcome.

Before you begin

  • Comfortable writing and debugging Python or TypeScript
  • Able to work with HTTP APIs, structured data, databases, and Git
  • Basic familiarity with LLM applications

Enrollment open

Start with the first lesson.

Enroll to save progress, resume across devices, and keep your course work connected to your learner profile.

Enroll and begin ↗