58% of engineers want FDE roles, but 90% lack upskilling roadmap: Report

Mumbai: Nearly 58 per cent of engineers want to transition into forward-deployed engineer (FDE) roles, but nine in 10 lack awareness of a structured upskilling path, even as nearly 90 per cent of Indian enterprises expect demand for FDEs to grow by 2030, a report said on Thursday.

Nearly nine in ten Indian enterprises expect their need for FDEs to grow by 2030, with almost eight in ten MNCs already planning to hire FDEs within the next 12 months, edtech company Scaler said in 'India's FDE Opportunity' report.

However, the report found that nine in 10 engineers are unaware of a structured path to upskill for FDE roles, even as 58 per cent said they want to transition into one.


Over 52 per cent of engineers don't know how to be an FDE, citing an unclear career path and a poorly defined FDE role, it added.

The report, prepared by Scaler and CyberMedia Research (CMR), draws on input from 1,000 software engineers and 200 enterprise technology decision-makers across eight metros and select tier II cities.

The report further indicated a shift in forward-deployed engineering from a specialised function to a mainstream business priority, with 88 per cent of Indian firms anticipating higher demand by 2030, despite only 1 per cent of engineers currently holding explicitly designated FDE positions.

"Forward Deployed Engineering is shaping up to be one of the most defining engineering careers of this decade. Our report finds that 88 per cent of Indian enterprises expect demand for FDEs to rise by 2030. "As companies worldwide race to turn AI into business outcomes, engineers who can bridge the gap between AI technology and its real-world application will be central to making this shift happen," Amar Srivastava, Scaler CEO and Online Business and Group CPO, said.

He said most conversations around AI focus on jobs that will change; however, the real change is the new career opportunities being created.

"The findings point to an emerging opportunity for India: developing a specialised engineering career pathway while addressing gaps in applied AI, production deployment and customer-facing problem-solving," he added.