McGrew: FDEs function as product discovery linking client needs to platforms
Bob McGrew · The FDE Playbook for AI Startups with Bob McGrew · Y Combinator · Sep 8, 2025 · at 6:43
Bob McGrew, former Palantir executive and OpenAI Chief Research Officer, explains the mechanics of how Palantir used Forward Deployed Engineers to drive core product development.
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“What he realized we needed was for the FTEs to act as product discovery. So they would go to the site, they would take the product as it was, and they would fill the gap between what the product did and what the users needed. So, you know, the FDE goes and builds like a gravel road to where the product needs to go, and then the role of my team, of the product and engineering team, was to look at that and basically figure out how that should generalize to the next five customers or the next 10 customers, and then turn that, you know, gravel road into like a paved superhighway.”
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