Top forward deployed engineering firms in the US / Cost and method

Cost and method

How the FDE firms in this guide were chosen

Every firm in this guide passed three tests on 20 October 2026. Its own pages offer engineers who work inside a client's team. Its own pages or an independent source name a US office, or it is a US company that works remotely. And it sells the engineers as its main offer, so the in-house FDE teams of software makers such as Palantir and AWS are left out. This page lists each check, how the sources are labelled, the candidates left out with the reason, and the facts that could not be confirmed.

Published October 21, 2026. Editorial.

Key takeaways

A firm entered the list only if its own pages offer engineers placed inside a client's team, a US office or US base is stated, and the engineers are its main offer.
Anthropic's directory held 321 entries on 20 October 2026, and every firm was searched for by name, with other spellings tried.
Eighteen candidates were left out, among them Invisible Technologies, Quantiphi, Fractal Analytics, Mechanical Orchard and Rosetree Solutions, each for a stated reason.
Figures that only the firm states and that would read as a measure of quality, such as client counts and savings claims, were left out.

This page explains how the list of forward deployed engineering firms in the US was made, so you can judge it and repeat any check. Every page used was opened on 20 October 2026. A page that could not be opened was not used.

The three tests

A firm entered the list only if it passed all three.

Its own pages offer engineers who work inside a client's team. The firm's website or press release had to say this, in the words forward deployed or in words that describe engineers working inside the client. Ode with Anthropic and Percepta do not use the FDE title on the pages read. They are included because their own pages describe embedded work. For Percepta, HLTH and the Governor of Maryland describe the same [7] [11]. For Ode, TechCrunch reports that it builds systems tailored to each organization's operations [8], which says less about where the engineers sit, so Ode's entry rests on its own homepage wording.
A US office or US base is stated. The firm's own pages, or an independent source, had to name an office in a US city. Caylent gives no office address and says its staff work remotely, so it is included as a US company and counted for no city. Artium's Los Angeles location comes from Consulting.us only [9]. Turing's only San Francisco address is a private mailbox, and TechCrunch places it in Palo Alto [10].
The engineers are the firm's main offer. Software makers that run their own FDE teams for their own customers are left out. Wikipedia says Palantir made the title popular [6], and Marty Cagan of SVPG wrote that he considers Palantir a product company [2]. Joe Schmidt of a16z counted 22 of the 311 open roles on OpenAI's careers page in June 2025 in FDE and similar categories [3]. Amazon described its own AWS FDE teams on 30 June 2026 [5]. All of these are software makers' teams, so none is on the list.

What was checked, and where

Check	Where it was checked
FDE offer	The firm's homepage, service pages and press releases
US offices	The firm's contact, about, careers and location pages; site data; news reports that say where the firm is based
Size	The firm's own site; news reports; Forbes's company pages; filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission
Funding and ownership	TechCrunch, Crunchbase News, SiliconANGLE, Business Standard, HLTH, InvestmentNews and Consulting.us
Partner listings	Anthropic's partner directory [1]; Stripe's partner directory; AWS's partner awards and partner programme posts
Clients	The firm's own site, then a search for a client's own statement or a news report
Price	The firm's own site, for any rate, package or pricing method

How the sources are written

The firm's own pages. A website, a press release, a firm's own filing, or the text a firm writes for a partner directory shows what the firm says about itself. On the pages, these facts carry words such as "by its own account", "the firm says" or "its careers page lists". A client named only on a firm's own site is written as what the site shows.

Independent sources. A news report, a government press release, or a client's own statement comes from outside the firm. These facts name the source in the sentence, for example "TechCrunch reported" or "the Governor of Maryland announced". The Maryland release is also the client's own statement, which is why it confirms Percepta's state work.

Directories and Amazon's own posts. In Anthropic's directory, Anthropic sets the tier, so the tier is Anthropic's statement, while the line of text beside each name is written by the partner. Amazon's posts about AWS are Amazon's statements about its own programme. They are cited as Amazon's own words.

Source type	Example in this guide	How it is written
The firm's own pages	Factored's 500+ engineers	"By its own account"
Independent	TechCrunch on Ode's 100 engineers [8]	"TechCrunch reported"
Directory tier	Caylent's Preferred tier	"Anthropic's directory lists"
Directory text	Tenex's "embedded Chief AI Officer / FDE team"	"The text Tenex wrote for the directory"
Amazon's own post	AWS's partner programme [4]	"AWS said" or "Amazon said"

How Anthropic's directory was searched

Anthropic's Claude Partner Network directory held 321 entries on 20 October 2026. Of those, 312 had a tier: 256 Select, 40 Preferred and 16 Global Premier. Nine had no tier [1]. Each firm was searched for by name in all 321 entries, with other spellings tried, such as 10Pearls and 10 Pearls, and a part of a name, such as hatch. Peers such as Tenex and Rosetree Solutions were found by the same search.

Ten of the fifteen firms are listed. Reveneau, Fluxon, Distyl AI, 10Pearls and HatchWorks AI are not. HatchWorks's own page says it is a direct partner under the Claude Partner Network, so its entry says the directory did not confirm the claim. Anthropic co-owns Ode with Anthropic, so Ode's listing is described as coming from an owner.

Cautions applied on every page

No firm publishes a price. Tenex and Caylent publish a pricing method only.
Turing's San Francisco address is a private mailbox, 548 Market Street, PMB 18282, and TechCrunch called Turing Palo Alto-based in March 2025.
Tribe AI's San Francisco office comes from its own site only. TechCrunch called it Brooklyn-based in July 2024.
General Catalyst is on both sides of the Janus Henderson deal. It owns Percepta and co-led the deal to buy Janus Henderson, a Percepta client, per InvestmentNews.
Tredence gives two staff figures, more than 4,200 and more than 5,000, and two time frames for its target of 200 FDEs, 12 months and 12 to 18 months. Both are shown with their source.
No firm is called an AWS FDE partner. AWS's post on its partner programme names no partner firms [4].
No client that Fluxon names has an outside confirmation. Searches found no news report, client website, talk or public code naming Fluxon as the builder.

Candidates left out

Candidate	Reason
Invisible Technologies	It posts FDE jobs, but its pages read on 20 October 2026 do not sell FDE work to clients, and the only address found earlier was a private mailbox
Quantiphi	Its homepage has no forward deployed or embedded wording
Fractal Analytics	Its homepage has no forward deployed or embedded wording
Mechanical Orchard	Its homepage has no forward deployed or embedded wording and leads with its own product
Rosetree Solutions	Its directory text describes forward deployed engineers, but its own homepage does not, and no US office was found
Forgd, Plank, Trackmind, By The People Technologies, AI Definitive, Ravn	Their directory text describes forward deployed or embedded engineers, but their own sites and US offices were not checked in the time available
Slalom, Thoughtworks	No forward deployed wording was found on their pages in earlier research, and they were not checked again
Loka, Provectus, ClearScale, IDEO	No FDE or embedded claim was found in earlier research
Blank Metal	Its homepage loads its text with scripts and returned 48 bytes of text to an automated read, so nothing could be confirmed

Several of these firms appear in this site's guide to AI development companies in Silicon Valley, which uses a different test.

What could not be confirmed

OpenAI's partner pages for Artium and Rosetree Solutions refused automated requests, so they are not used.
A law firm's note on the Tredence investment refused the request and is not used.
No primary page from Indeed or LinkedIn with US FDE posting counts was found. Indeed figures quoted in other coverage were left out because their primary page was not found. The demand figures on these pages come from Bloomberry's analysis.
No founding year was found for Tredence, Tenex or HatchWorks AI on the pages opened.
No staff count was found for Tenex, 10Pearls, Caylent or HatchWorks AI.
No independent confirmation was found for any client named by Tredence, Tenex, 10Pearls, Caylent or HatchWorks AI.
No street address was published for Distyl AI, Ode, Tribe AI, Tenex, Artium, HatchWorks AI or Caylent on the pages opened.
No public list of firms in AWS's partner FDE programme was found.

Facts left out on purpose

Some figures appear only on a firm's own site and would read as a measure of quality. They are left out.

Firm	Figure left out	Why
Percepta	Savings and percentage figures on its homepage	Only Percepta states them, and they showed as 0 in the saved copy
Tredence	Its count of Fortune 500 clients	Only Tredence states it, with no client named
Tribe AI	Its count of AI products built	Only Tribe states it
Turing	Its revenue run rate, meaning yearly revenue at its current pace	TechCrunch gave it as an approximate figure
HatchWorks AI	Badges from review and ranking sites	Rankings are not used as sources in this guide

The order of the list

Reveneau is listed first and Fluxon second. The firms already checked for this site's Silicon Valley guide come next: Distyl AI, Ode with Anthropic, Tribe AI, Factored, Grid Dynamics and Turing. The firms researched for this guide follow: Tredence, Percepta, Tenex, 10Pearls, Caylent, Artium and HatchWorks AI. No firm gets a score or a rating, and the pages do not compare named firms on speed, price or quality.

Reveneau's entry gives only its present practice, in its own words. Reveneau says AI writes 100 percent of its code. It says every change has to pass a large eval suite, a set of automated tests written from the specification, before release. Reveneau says Jev grades that suite and makes it run ten times faster than its previous grader did. It says it uses AI in place of hiring more engineers and puts that saving into clients' prices. It says it takes responsibility for the whole project through production, meaning daily use by real users, and after release. Its offices are at 435 Utah Street, San Francisco, and Floor 33, 909 Mainland Street, Vancouver. Its forward deployed engineers page has the rest.

How to repeat a check yourself

Open the firm's own service page and look for words that offer engineers inside your team.
Open its contact, careers or location page. Look for a street address, and for PMB or a mail service suite.
Search a news site for the firm's name with the word "based" to see where reporters place it.
Search Anthropic's directory for the firm's name, with other spellings.
For any client the firm names, look for the client's own blog, press release or public talk that names the firm.
For any figure about the firm's work, ask whether anyone outside the firm measured it.

When the list changes

Every fact here is dated 20 October 2026. Firms are bought, practices open, offices move and directory listings change. In 2026, the Ode joint venture bought Fractional AI, AlixPartners bought Artium, and Caylent launched an Anthropic practice with forward deployed engineers. When a fact on these pages changes, the page date changes with it.

Common questions

What tests did a firm have to pass to be in this FDE guide?

Three tests, checked on 20 October 2026. The firm's own pages had to offer engineers who work inside a client's team. Its own pages or an independent source had to name a US office, or it had to be a US company that works remotely. And the engineers had to be its main offer, which leaves out software makers' own FDE teams.

Why are Ode and Percepta listed when they do not use the FDE title?

Their own pages describe engineers working inside the client. Ode says it works with the client's team from roadmap through deployment, and Percepta says it works directly inside a client's operations. For Percepta, HLTH and the Governor of Maryland describe the same. For Ode, TechCrunch says it builds systems tailored to each organization, so its entry rests on its own wording. Both entries state that the FDE title is absent from the firm's pages.

Why is Caylent listed when it gives no office address?

Caylent's careers page says its staff have worked fully remotely since 2015, and its April 2026 press release has an Irvine, California dateline. It offers forward deployed engineers for Anthropic customers in that release. So it is listed as a US company and counted for no city. Ask Caylent where the engineers on your project would live.

Which FDE firms were considered and left out?

Invisible Technologies, Quantiphi, Fractal Analytics and Mechanical Orchard did not sell embedded engineers on the pages read. Rosetree Solutions describes them only in its directory text and had no US office found. Six more firms with similar directory text were not checked in time. Slalom, Thoughtworks, Loka, Provectus, ClearScale and IDEO had no FDE claim in earlier research. Blank Metal's site could not be read.

How was Anthropic's partner directory searched for this guide?

The directory held 321 entries on 20 October 2026, 312 of them with a tier: 256 Select, 40 Preferred and 16 Global Premier. Each firm was searched for by name in all entries, with other spellings and parts of names tried. Peers such as Tenex and Rosetree Solutions were found by the same search.

Why does this guide call no firm an AWS FDE partner?

AWS announced on 30 June 2026 that it is starting a partner FDE programme with a limited set of partner firms, but its post names none of them. No public list of those partners was found. So any claim to be an AWS FDE partner could not be checked. Ask a firm that makes the claim for written proof from AWS.

Which figures from firms' own websites were left out?

Figures that only the firm states and that would read as a measure of quality were left out. They include Percepta's homepage savings figures, Tredence's count of Fortune 500 clients, Tribe AI's count of products built, and HatchWorks AI's badges from ranking sites. Turing's revenue run rate was left out because TechCrunch gave it as an approximate figure.

How is the text a firm writes in a partner directory treated?

Anthropic sets the tier in its directory, so the tier is treated as Anthropic's statement. The line of text beside each firm's name is written by the firm, so it is treated as the firm's own words and attributed. For example, Tenex's directory text calls it an embedded Chief AI Officer and FDE team, and the guide says Tenex wrote it.

In what order are the FDE firms in this guide listed?

Reveneau is first and Fluxon second. The firms already checked for this site's Silicon Valley guide follow: Distyl AI, Ode, Tribe AI, Factored, Grid Dynamics and Turing. Then come the firms researched for this guide: Tredence, Percepta, Tenex, 10Pearls, Caylent, Artium and HatchWorks AI. No firm gets a score, and named firms are not compared on speed, price or quality.

How can I check an FDE firm's claims myself?

Open the firm's service page and look for words that offer engineers inside your team. Check its contact page for a street address, and for PMB or a mail service suite. Search news sites for where reporters say it is based. Search Anthropic's directory with other spellings. Look for a client's own statement naming the firm, and ask who measured any figure.

References

More in Cost and method

What forward deployed engineering costs from a US firm

None of the fifteen forward deployed engineering firms in this guide published a price on 20 October 2026. Two published how they charge: Tenex by story points of delivered work, and Caylent on outcomes or for a fixed fee where results can be measured. This page gathers the public figures that do exist, mostly pay data for engineers, explains the common ways firms charge in plain words, and lists what a quote should show so that you can compare firms on the same terms.

Questions to ask an FDE firm before you sign

This checklist is for the first meeting with any forward deployed engineering firm. It has nine parts: the firm and its owners, the engineers, their time with your people, access to your systems, testing, platforms and models, price, handover, and partner claims. Each question comes with what a clear answer contains and a fact from this guide that shows why the question matters. Print it, send it to every firm before the meeting, and compare the written answers side by side.

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