Forward Deployed Engineers for AI Automation
A full-time in-house AI engineer costs $15K to $25K a month and takes 3 to 6 months to hire. A forward deployed engineer (FDE) from Adaptive Teams starts in days at $4K to $6K a month, and builds, deploys and improves AI systems across your business every month.
- $4K to $6K a month
- Starts in days
- 100% dedicated to you
- Backed by a central team
No commitment. No upfront cost. We reply within 24 hours.
Some of the companies we build teams for
Most Companies Are Drowning in Manual Work
Strong AI tools exist, but most businesses never get them working. An internal AI engineer is expensive and risky to hire. What most companies want is someone who keeps improving their systems with AI.
- 01Too many manual processes eat your team’s time.
- 02Reporting takes hours every single week.
- 03Repetitive operational work never ends.
- 04Your software tools do not talk to each other.
- 05Founders are stuck in operations instead of growing the business.
A Forward Deployed Engineer, Inside Your Business
- Build automations that take repetitive work off your team.
- Integrate your tools so data moves without copy and paste.
- Deploy AI agents for support, sales and internal questions.
- Monitor workflows and fix them before they break.
Instead of hiring a full-time AI engineer, you get a trained AI FDE dedicated to your business, backed by a central team for complex builds. Your business gets more automated every month.
What Is a Forward Deployed Engineer?
An engineer who works inside your business, not on a ticket queue.
A forward deployed engineer sits with your team, learns how the work really gets done and builds the automation right where it is needed. The role started at software companies that sent engineers into client operations. We offer it as a service to growing businesses.
FDE as a service means you get the output of an AI engineer without the hiring risk. Your AI FDE joins your tools and your calls, finds the repetitive work, builds the fix and keeps it running. When a build needs more depth, our central AI development team, led by Leo, steps in.
Your FDE works with the tools you already use, including:
- Make (Integromat)
- Zapier
- n8n
- Airtable
- Notion
- HubSpot
- Slack
- AI agent frameworks
Automate Every Part of Your Business
Your AI FDE keeps finding new ways to improve your business with AI. Over time they build an automation layer across your whole operation.
Operations
Automate repetitive workflows, tighten internal processes and remove manual operational tasks.
Reporting
Automated dashboards and weekly reports, with data pulled together from all your tools.
Sales and CRM
Lead enrichment, CRM updates and automated outreach workflows, so your pipeline stays current.
Customer support
AI support agents, automated replies and ticket triage, so your team handles only what needs a person.
Internal tools
Slack assistants, internal knowledge copilots and AI tools your employees use every day.
Documents and data
Document processing, data extraction and workflow triggers that start the next step on their own.
From Day One to Continuous Improvement
Four steps: match, discover, build, improve. The last one never stops.
Dedicated FDE
We match you with a trained forward deployed engineer who works with your company. They become a dedicated part of your team.
Identify automation opportunities
Your FDE meets your team, maps your workflows and tools, and lists the repetitive work worth automating first. This starts in the first week.
Build and deploy AI systems
Your FDE builds and ships automations across your tools: connecting software, deploying AI agents and cutting manual steps.
Continuous improvement
Your FDE monitors every system, improves workflows, adds new automations and maintains your AI agents. Your business gets more automated every month.
The Same System That Built KO Storage’s Team
Our FDEs are hired and managed through the same process that took KO Storage from four call center agents to 70+ team members across six departments in 18 months. Your FDE works best alongside a team like that.
- Call Center
- Revenue Management
- Accounting
- Asset Management
- Security
- IT Support
You found us high-level people. It’s been a fresh breath of air. We went from 4 to 70+ team members in 18 months.
Managers went from revolving-door chaos to actual strategic work.
Enterprise-Grade AI, Without the Enterprise Cost
You get trained global talent, AI automation skills and ongoing support for $4K to $6K a month instead of $15K to $25K. Even a small company can run on AI-powered systems.
Trained global talent
FDEs are trained on modern AI automation tools and platforms, and ready to work in your business from day one.
AI automation skills
Deep knowledge of automation platforms, AI agents and workflow tools, applied to your own business problems.
Ongoing operations support
Not a one-time project. Your FDE keeps improving your systems and finds new work to automate every month.
Security and safeguards
Structured tool access, controlled environments, good practice for AI data handling and secure workflows for company information.
Simple, Transparent Pricing
Most clients pay $4,000 to $6,000 a month. The final price depends on scope. There are no hidden fees and no per-automation charges.
Compare that with an in-house AI engineer at $15K to $25K a month, after a search of 3 to 6 months.
Full-time in-house hire
$15K to $25KA month, for one AI engineer on your payroll.
- 3 to 6 months to hire
- One person, no backup
- Full-time commitment
Forward deployed engineer
$4K to $6KA month, for a dedicated FDE plus our central team.
- Starts in days
- FDE plus central technical team
- Flexible monthly subscription
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 and service businesses with 5 to 20+ employees. Especially businesses that:
- Want to use AI but do not know where to start
- Have repetitive workflows eating team time
- Want to run leaner and faster
- Do not want to hire full-time engineers
What Our Clients Say
Hear from the companies that trust Adaptive Teams with their remote teams.
The only solution that we use now is Adaptive Teams. They made the process so seamless and quicker than I would have ever imagined.
When I thought I found someone good, they didn’t turn out to be good at all. With Adaptive Teams they put together this incredible search.
They found rock stars who significantly boosted our ROI. It’s a no-brainer for anyone looking to hire effectively and affordably.
Tony BrinkFounder, Etta VitaWe needed to hire for a wide range of roles, from tech consultants to high-level accountants to marketers, and they delivered quickly and at a great cost.
Paola Alejandra RoccoProject Manager, Centurica$0 upfront placement fees. Free replacement guarantee on every placement.
Built by Nate and Menno, Who Automated Their Own Companies First
Nate and Menno built SellerPlex together into a full-service Amazon agency. Along the way they saw how much time teams lose on repetitive work: reporting, data entry, tool management and follow-ups. When AI tools got good enough, they started automating inside their own companies. Reports built themselves and AI agents took over tasks that used to need a full-time person.
“We realized most businesses don’t need another engineer. They need someone who keeps improving their operations with AI.” So they built Forward Deployed Engineers at Adaptive Teams: a dedicated AI FDE improving your business every day, backed by a central AI development team led by Leo.
Forward Deployed Engineer FAQ
Still have questions? Tell us where your team loses the most time and we map out what an FDE would build first.
Book a Free ConsultationOr open the calendar and pick a time.
How quickly can we get started?
Once you confirm, onboarding usually takes a few days. Your FDE holds a discovery call with your team to learn your workflows, tools and priorities, and starts listing automation opportunities in the first week.
What AI and automation tools do your FDEs work with?
Our FDEs work across the leading platforms, including Make (Integromat), Zapier, n8n, Airtable, Notion, HubSpot, Slack and a range of AI agent frameworks. They keep learning as new tools appear. If you use a specific tool, we work with it.
Is this a one-time project or ongoing?
Ongoing. Your FDE works with your business every month: building new automations, maintaining the ones you have and finding new ways to improve your operations.
What’s the difference between this and hiring a freelancer or agency?
Freelancers and agencies usually deliver a project and move on. Your FDE is dedicated to your business over time. They learn your systems and your team, and keep improving your operations. They are also backed by our central technical team for complex builds.
Do I need technical knowledge to work with an FDE?
No. Our FDEs work with non-technical founders and teams every day. You describe the problem or the repetitive work, and they work out the best way to automate it.
How do you handle security and access to our business tools?
FDEs follow structured access rules. They only get the tools and data they need for the automations they build. We follow good practice for credential management, use controlled environments where needed and keep company information in secure workflows.
What size company is this best suited for?
Companies with 5 to 20+ employees: founders, agencies, ecommerce businesses and service companies with real operational workflows that do not want to hire a full-time AI engineer.
What does the $4,000 to $6,000/month pricing include?
A dedicated forward deployed engineer, ongoing automation development, monitoring and maintenance of existing automations, and support from our central technical team for complex builds. No hidden fees and no per-automation charges. It is one simple monthly subscription.
Your FDE Works Best Alongside Your Team
Already have a remote team with us? Your FDE makes them more productive. We handle the people side while your FDE handles the systems.
Get Your Forward Deployed Engineer
Tell us where your team loses the most time. We send a plan for what your FDE builds first, and reply within 24 hours.
- Free replacement guarantee on all placements
- Roles filled in 2 to 3 weeks
- Month to month, no annual contracts
Step 1 of 4
Where does your team lose the most time?
Pick the closest fit.
Step 3 of 4
How big is your operations team?
One more question so the right person picks this up.
Step 4 of 4
Last step: pick a time
Pick a slot for your free call. We have your details, so if nothing fits, we reply within 24 hours anyway.
Thanks, we got it.
We place people with the companies we work for. See every open role and apply there.
View open rolesPrefer to book directly? Open the calendar
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 keep quality high.