The wager behind Forward Deployed is that the most useful map is drawn by someone still finding the way. So here's mine, without the polish.
The edge. I ship AI agent systems in production — not demos. Real ops automation, running for real users, in the mess. That's the core of the FDE job: taking models and making them survive contact with reality. And I'm based in Doha, at the center of the Gulf's sovereign-AI build-out — the least-covered, fastest-moving corner of the market.
The gap. Being able to build in production isn't the same as being a recognized Forward Deployed Engineer at a frontier lab. The credential, the client-facing reps at scale, the name on the door — those I'm still earning. Naming the gap honestly is the first move the diagnostic asks of anyone; it would be dishonest not to hold myself to it.
The plan, in public. Build proof, document it, position it, and use this publication as both the map and the evidence. If it works, it lands me the role. If it works even better, it turns me into the person who helps others land it. Either way, the work is the same: keep shipping, keep writing it down.
That's the series. I'll post the real steps as I take them — what shipped, what broke, what I learned. Follow along, or take the diagnostic and walk your own version of the path.