Insights · 1 minute read
How OpenAI and Anthropic Use Forward Deployed Engineers
OpenAI runs a "Forward Deployed Engineering" team and Anthropic runs an "Applied AI" team; both embed engineers directly inside enterprise customers to ship frontier models into production and drive adoption. The labs use the model because a model only creates value once someone builds it into a real workflow— the same reason enterprises now want it too.
The clearest signal that forward deployed engineering matters is who runs it. OpenAI and Anthropic—the two most influential AI labs—both built teams around the model.
What OpenAI does
OpenAI built a Forward Deployed Engineering team that embeds with enterprise customers to lead complex deployments of its models into production—working where model performance matters, delivery is urgent, and ambiguity is the default. Reporting has described the team scaling rapidly as OpenAI pushed into enterprise.
What Anthropic does
Anthropic runs an Applied AI team whose forward deployed engineers embed with strategic customers to build production applications with Claude models and provide hands-on deployment support—often building on-site with the customer. It is the same function under a different name; see Applied AI engineer vs FDE.
Why the labs use the model
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| Deployment is the bottleneck | Models only pay off once shipped into a workflow |
| Ambiguity is default | Enterprise problems rarely arrive as clean specs |
| Feedback loop | Field patterns improve the product |
This is the same logic behind why FDEs are in demand.
What it means for you
Most companies will never get a lab's own forward deployed engineer—those go to flagship accounts. That is exactly the gap FISTA's Applied Division fills: the same embedded model, for teams outside the frontier labs' biggest deals.
Want frontier-grade delivery for your problem? Hire a forward deployed engineer.
Share-ready article cover
Download the generated social format.
Clear answers
Questions raised by this field note.
Straightforward guidance for evaluating scope, fit, and the next step.
01Does OpenAI use forward deployed engineers?
Yes. OpenAI built a Forward Deployed Engineering team that embeds with enterprise customers to lead complex deployments of its models into production, where performance matters and ambiguity is the default.
02What is Anthropic's Applied AI team?
Anthropic's Applied AI team includes forward deployed engineers who embed with strategic customers to build production applications with Claude models and provide hands-on deployment support.
03Why does this matter for my company?
It shows the embedded, outcome-owning model is now the industry standard for shipping AI. Most companies cannot get a lab's own FDE, so providers now offer the same model for enterprise and mid-market teams.
Continue exploring
Related capabilities
Start with the hard problem
Need the outcome owned, not merely analyzed?
Tell us where delivery is constrained. We’ll map the fastest credible path from intent to verified production.