FDE vs Solutions Engineer
Both roles sit between sales and engineering. The difference is who owns the outcome.
| Solutions Engineer | Forward Deployed Engineer | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | Help win the deal | Make the deployed product work |
| Reports to | Sales / GTM | Product / Eng / CTO |
| Time on customer code | Hours to days | Weeks to months |
| Owns production? | Rarely | Yes, until handover |
| Typical artifact | POC, demo, RFP | Shipped integration in prod |