Offshore development team cost is usually presented as a neat hourly-rate comparison. A senior developer in one market costs X, a developer in another market costs Y, and the savings appear obvious. That is only the starting point. The real budget depends on role mix, management load, retention, compliance, and how much rework your internal team has to absorb. Table
Forward Deployed EngineersBook a Free Consultation
A full-time in-house AI engineer costs $15K to $25K/month and takes 3 to 6 months to hire. A forward deployed engineer (FDE) from Adaptive Teams starts in days at $4K to $6K/month.
For the cost of one full-time AI engineer you are drowning in manual work that should already be automated. For $4K to $6K a month, a dedicated FDE builds, deploys, and improves AI systems across your entire operation. Continuously. Every month.
$4-6K
Per Month
Days
To Start
100%
Dedicated To You
Available now. No waitlist.
Full-Time In-House Hire
$15K to $25K/month
- 3 to 6 months to hire
- One person, no backup
- Full-time commitment
Forward Deployed Engineer
$4K to $6K/month
- Starts in days
- FDE plus central team
- Flexible subscription
The Problem
Most companies are drowning in manual work.
Even though powerful AI tools exist, most businesses struggle to actually implement them. Hiring an internal AI engineer is expensive and risky. Most companies simply want someone who can continuously improve their systems with AI.
01
Too many manual processes eating up your team’s time
02
Reporting that takes hours every single week
03
Repetitive operational work with no end in sight
04
Disconnected software tools that don’t talk to each other
05
Founders stuck in operations instead of driving growth
The result? Founders and teams spend their best hours on work that should be automated.
The Solution
A forward deployed engineer, inside your business.
Instead of hiring a full-time AI engineer, you get a trained AI FDE dedicated to your business. This FDE continuously improves your company, supported by a central team for complex implementations.
Build automations
Integrate tools
Deploy AI agents
Monitor workflows
Your business becomes more automated, more efficient, and more AI-powered every month.
What Your FDE Automates
Automate every part of your business.
Your AI FDE continuously finds new ways to improve your business with AI. Over time, they build a comprehensive automation layer across your entire operation.
Operations
- Automate repetitive workflows
- Streamline internal processes
- Eliminate manual operational tasks
Reporting
- Automated dashboards
- Automated weekly reporting
- Data aggregation from multiple tools
Sales and CRM
- Lead enrichment
- CRM updates
- Automated outreach workflows
Customer Support
- AI support agents
- Automated responses
- Ticket triaging
Internal Tools
- Slack assistants
- Internal knowledge copilots
- AI tools for employees
Documents and Data
- Document processing
- Data extraction
- Workflow triggers
How It Works
From day one to continuous improvement.
1
Dedicated FDE
You are matched with a trained forward deployed engineer who works with your company. They become a dedicated extension of your team.
2
Identify Automation Opportunities
Your FDE works with your team to identify repetitive work, manual workflows, and automation opportunities across your entire operation.
3
Build and Deploy AI Systems
Your FDE builds and deploys automations across your tools and workflows, connecting software, deploying AI agents, and streamlining processes.
4
Continuous Improvement
The FDE continues to monitor systems, improve workflows, add new automations, and maintain AI agents. Your business becomes more automated every month.
Why This Model Works
Enterprise-grade AI, without the enterprise cost.
Instead of hiring a full-time AI engineer, companies get access to trained global talent, AI automation expertise, and ongoing operations support, at a fraction of the cost. This makes it possible for even small companies to operate with AI-powered infrastructure.
Trained Global Talent
FDEs are trained and certified in modern AI automation tools and platforms, ready to work with your business from day one.
AI Automation Expertise
Deep knowledge of automation platforms, AI agents, and workflow tools, applied directly to your business challenges.
Ongoing Operations Support
Not a one-time project. Your FDE continuously improves your systems, finding new automation opportunities every month.
Security and Safeguards
Structured tool access, controlled environments, best practices for AI data handling, and secure workflows for company information.
Pricing
Simple, transparent pricing.
$4,000 to $6,000
per month
Typical pricing. Final price based on scope.
What’s included:
- A dedicated forward deployed engineer
- Ongoing automation development
- Monitoring and maintenance
- Support from a central technical team
- Continuous workflow improvement
- AI agent deployment and management
Who this is for:
- Founders with small teams
- Agencies
- Ecommerce companies
- Service businesses
- Companies with 5-20+ employees
Especially businesses that:
- •Want to implement AI but don’t know where to start
- •Have repetitive workflows eating up team time
- •Want to operate more efficiently
- •Don’t want to hire full-time engineers
Our Story
Built by Nate and Menno, who automated their own companies first.
Nate Ginsburg
Founder & CEO, SellerPlex, Adaptive Teams & Centurica
Serial entrepreneur who built SellerPlex (ecommerce services) and Centurica (financial due diligence for online businesses).
Menno Gottmer
COO, SellerPlex & Adaptive Teams
Helped build SellerPlex and Adaptive Teams from the ground up. Drives operations and strategy across both companies.
Nate and Menno built SellerPlex together, growing it into a successful ecommerce services company. Along the way, they experienced firsthand how much time teams spend on repetitive operational work. Reporting, data entry, tool management, follow-ups. The manual tasks never stopped.
When AI tools became powerful enough, they started automating inside their own companies. The results were transformative. Processes that took hours now ran automatically. Reports built themselves. AI agents handled tasks that used to require full-time attention.
“We realized most businesses don’t need another engineer. They need someone who continuously improves their operations with AI. That’s exactly what we built.”
The founders, Adaptive Teams
They realized other businesses needed this too. So through Adaptive Teams, they created Forward Deployed Engineers, making it possible for any company to have a dedicated AI FDE improving their business every day.
Led by Leo & the AI Development Team
The AI development team is based in Brazil, led by Leo, and trained on the latest AI automation tools, frameworks, and agent platforms. They provide the technical backbone that powers every FDE, handling complex implementations and staying on the cutting edge of AI automation.
Common Questions
Forward Deployed Engineer FAQ
Everything you need to know before getting started. Still have questions? Get in touch and we’ll be happy to answer them directly.
How quickly can we get started?
Once confirmed, onboarding typically takes just a few days. Your dedicated FDE will have an initial discovery call with your team to understand your workflows, tools, and priorities, then begin identifying automation opportunities within the first week.
What AI and automation tools do your FDEs work with?
Our FDEs are trained across the leading automation and AI platforms, including Make (Integromat), Zapier, n8n, Airtable, Notion, HubSpot, Slack, and a range of AI agent frameworks. They continuously update their skills as new tools emerge. If you use a specific tool, we’ll work with it.
Is this a one-time project or ongoing?
This is an ongoing service, not a one-time project. Your FDE works with your business continuously, building new automations, maintaining existing ones, and finding new opportunities to improve your operations every month.
What’s the difference between this and hiring a freelancer or agency?
Freelancers and agencies typically deliver a project and move on. Your AI Automation FDE is dedicated to your business on an ongoing basis. They learn your systems, understand your team, and continuously improve your operations over time. They’re also backed by our central technical team for complex implementations.
Do I need to have technical knowledge to work with an FDE?
Not at all. Our FDEs are trained to work with non-technical founders and teams. You describe the problem or the repetitive work, they figure out the best way to automate it.
How do you handle security and access to our business tools?
Security is a priority. FDEs follow structured access protocols. They only access the tools and data necessary for the automations they’re building. We use best practices for credential management, controlled environments where needed, and secure workflows for handling company information.
What size company is this best suited for?
Forward Deployed Engineers works best for companies with 5-20+ employees. Founders, agencies, ecommerce businesses, and service companies that have real operational workflows but don’t have the resources or desire to hire a full-time AI engineer.
What does the $4,000 to $6,000/month pricing include?
The monthly fee includes a dedicated AI automation FDE, ongoing automation development, monitoring and maintenance of existing automations, and support from our central technical team for complex implementations. There are no hidden fees or per-automation charges. It’s a simple, all-inclusive subscription.
The Full Lifecycle
Your FDE works best alongside your team.
Already have a remote team with us? Your FDE makes them more productive.
Recruitment Services
Build the remote team your FDE will supercharge. Vetted global talent in 2 to 3 weeks.
HR Outsourcing
We handle the people side while your FDE handles the systems side.
Payroll Management
Global payroll with 0% salary markup, so your whole team runs as smoothly as your automations.
Ready for a Forward Deployed Engineer?
Get a trained AI FDE building, deploying, and improving automations across your business, starting in days. We work with a focused number of clients to ensure quality.
Book a Free ConsultationAvailable now. No waitlist.