Álvaro
Data Scientist
“In a climate this uncertain, Shakers gives you a layer of reassurance and confidence. What I like most, without a doubt, is the flexibility and getting to work on top-tier projects.”
Join ShakersShakers for expert talent
Work as a Forward Deployed Engineer
Projects where the brief is the last mile: getting AI to run on each company's real systems, with RAG over their data, agents with guardrails and integration with the ERP and the CRM. Companies that already have the pilot and need someone to make it operate.
- Higher-paying projects
- More continuity between projects
- Greater recognition for your experience
+3,000
Tech projects published on Shakers
+90
Tech, Product and Data specialisms are part of Shakers
6 months
Average length of a project with Shakers
4.7/5
Our AI Builders' satisfaction on Trustpilot
AI Builder careers powered by Shakers
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Amelia
AI Agent Developer
“I have been building AI agents for years. Thanks to Shakers I stopped chasing clients and started genuinely choosing which projects I wanted to work on. I work with some of the best companies in Europe, at my own rate, and I focus on what I am good at and what I love: building.”
Join Shakers
Luz
Backend Developer & Data Engineer
“Shakers adds a lot of value because it connects you with sharper projects, already filtered and better defined. It saves you a big part of the upfront work of understanding the client, quoting and weighing up whether it is worth it, and that means that as a contractor you can go far more directly to the opportunities that genuinely fit you.”
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Rubén
Software Developer
“Life as a contractor has a lot going on and it is not always easy. We like to focus on what we are good at, but you also have to manage clients, invoicing and go looking for work. For me, Shakers has been key because it does that prospecting for me, it gives the client confidence from the very first moment, and it lets us be part of a community with real enthusiasm.”
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Alejandro
AI Developer
“Shakers was key to getting my company off the ground: it gave me the flexibility to keep contracting while I built my next chapter. Without Shakers, I would have had to raise funding or push the project back.”
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Toño
Product Designer
“With Shakers I have landed recurring projects that give me peace of mind and room to grow professionally. It is not just about reaching quality clients: it is feeling that you have a network behind you, one that connects you with real opportunities and helps you move forward as a freelancer.”
Join ShakersWhat a Forward Deployed Engineer decides each week
A forward deployed engineer is a software engineer who works inside the client's environment to put AI into production: they adapt the product to real systems, build RAG and agents over the company's data and integrate the code with SAP, Salesforce or ServiceNow. As a contractor, they carry that practice from deployment to deployment.
Their boundary: the AI Engineer builds the system; the solutions engineer designs and presents it; the FDE deploys it at the client and leaves it running.
You decide which parts of the pilot survive and which get rebuilt, and which systems you deploy on: the cloud (AWS, Azure or GCP), the ERP or the CRM by API, the data feeding the RAG. You set each agent's guardrails and choose which evals keep running. You also decide what does not get done: a deployment without documentation does not close.
PythonTypeScriptAzureAWSGoGoogle CloudJavaScriptCI/CDReactJavaTerraformKubernetesAI agentsRAGLangChainLlamaIndexDatabricksSnowflakeDockerGuardrails and evals
RAGAgentsEnterprise integrationCI/CDEvalsGuardrails
Free to join, no hidden fees
How Shakers works for talent
Create your profile
Tell us who you are, what you can do, the projects you want to work on and what your availability and rate are.
Get your certification
We certify your experience and your use of AI so companies understand and trust what you bring.
Match with projects
We connect you with well-paid projects that fit your expertise and your preferences.
Projects that live up to your expectations
Work on real projects, with teams that need your expertise, without wasting time looking for opportunities.
Projects that fit you
Work with companies that need your stack and experience to take their projects to production.
Opportunities that come to you
Our AI matching connects your profile with the projects that fit your preferences.
You build. Shakers handles the rest
Set your own terms based on your seniority. We manage contracts, payments and paperwork.
What you deliver as a Forward Deployed Engineer in Shakers
The brief arrives with a pilot
The company already has AI working in a demo and needs someone to make it operate: systems, data and scope on the table.
Production, not sandbox
You put RAG and agents over the client's real data, on AWS, Azure or GCP, under their security constraints.
The ERP and the CRM come in
AI connected by API to SAP, Salesforce or ServiceNow: the result lands where people work.
Deployments counted, not demos
Having taken systems to production and being able to tell it: which deployment, which integration, which evaluation.
Evals that keep running
Guardrails and evaluations that hold the system when nobody is watching: the proof is the evals, not the demo.
How far your brief goes
You deploy what is built; when the system still has to be built, the AI Engineer takes it on their row and it is declared.
Frequently asked questions
Any other questions? Write to us and we will reply.
How much does a contract Forward Deployed Engineer charge?
Contract FDEs bill by project, and the brief sets the band: systems to integrate, deployment complexity and engagement scope. Every project arrives with its budget on the table.
What do I need to get certified as an FDE?
Thousands of professionals apply every year and only 4% pass the certification process. An FDE is audited on production deployments and real enterprise integrations, not titles or courses.
Is there real demand for FDEs in the UK?
Measured, yes: 83 active UK postings in September 2026, 65 in London, across 56 employers from Google to Accenture's Palantir practice. They ask for senior developers with applied AI practice.
Do I have to work on the client's site?
Each engagement decides: some deployments run remotely with access to the systems, others ask for on-site presence in the first weeks. What never changes is working on real infrastructure.
How do deployment projects reach me at Shakers?
Companies arrive with the pilot built and the scope defined; you decide whether the brief fits your specialism and your calendar. The match happens by stack and by system, not by CV.
Won't AI end the Forward Deployed Engineer role?
The other way round: the role exists because AI needs someone to deploy it. While models fail to reach production, there is a last mile to close. Measured demand grows, it doesn't fade.
The day-to-day of the specialism
You read systems before code: where the data lives, what constraints the environment has, which parts of the pilot survive. Then you write Python or TypeScript, connect by API and leave every deployment documented.
How the market names you
UK postings title the same craft Forward Deployed Engineer, Forward Deployed Solution Engineer and AI Forward Deployed Engineer. All three vocabularies have to find you.
From projects to your portfolio
Every engagement leaves an enterprise integration in your track record: an ERP connected, a RAG over new data, an agent with evals. The portfolio builds deployment by deployment.
How far the specialism climbs
The titles above already exist in the UK market: Lead FDE, FDE Manager and staff-level roles at Palantir practices and AI labs. The specialism has a path without changing craft.
The roles around your deployment
The last mile doesn't travel alone: who builds the system and who sustains it cross your brief.
AI Engineer
The one who builds the system you deploy: when the brief starts before the pilot, their row covers the build.
AI Agent Developer
Agents over processes with tools, memory and guardrails: pure agent construction when there is no deployment yet.
Context Engineer
The window that feeds the model: RAG, memory and retrieval, the data layer you integrate into every system.
AI Reliability Engineer
When the system you left running has to hold: evals, regression and drift on a loop. The natural handover for your delivery.
Boundaries are agreed per project: builder, orchestrator and support are roles, not fixed titles.
Take the next step with Shakers
Want projects where the deployment is yours?
Pass the Shakers certification and choose which AI deployments you put your criteria on.
