Forward Deployed Engineering became the most-wanted job in tech faster than anyone built a map for it. The coverage stayed fixed on San Francisco; the pay data got mis-tagged; the fastest-growing markets — the Gulf, above all — went uncovered. Forward Deployed exists to be that map: how to become one, what it really pays, who's hiring, and what the role actually is.
Two promises, two audiences. For engineers: learn the path. For employers: find talent vetted on what the job actually is. The diagnostic is free, the data is sourced and honest, and the talent file is private.
Who's behind it
I'm Pierre-Thomas Liger-Belair. I build and ship AI agent systems in production — not demos — and I'm based in Doha, at the center of the Gulf's sovereign-AI build-out. I'm also, transparently, on my own route into the Forward Deployed role. This site is built in public: I'm documenting the path as I walk it, because the best map is drawn by someone still finding the way.
That's the wager behind Forward Deployed — the person most useful to you isn't the one who arrived years ago, but the one landing systems in production right now and writing down what it takes.
Become one · Hire one · Built in public from Doha, worldwide.