The first engineering hire is one of the most important decisions a startup will make. This person doesn’t just write code — they help shape the product, set technical foundations, and influence how the engineering team will grow in the future.
At this stage, there’s little structure and a lot of uncertainty, so the right hire can accelerate progress, while the wrong one can slow everything down.

Here are four roles we’ve been seeing more and more:

• Value Engineer (VE)
• Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
• Applied AI Engineer
• Deployment Architect

Let’s take a closer look at what’s driving demand for each of them and what to look for when hiring.

Value Engineer

Why is this role needed?

AI can do a lot. But businesses need to understand what value it actually creates. A Value Engineer connects the technology to measurable business outcomes, helping companies build the business case and prove ROI.

What problems does it solve?

• Turns AI capabilities into a clear business use cases/POCs
• Defines KPIs and ROI
• Helps different stakeholders understand the value
• Measures whether the investment is actually delivering results

How do you find this talent?

You don’t necessarily need someone who has already been a Value Engineer.

• Look for people with a mix of:
• Commercial and analytical skills
• Enterprise customer experience
• Strong communication and stakeholder management
• Understanding of technology and business modelling

Good talent can come from consulting, solutions consulting, sales engineering, strategy & operations or customer success.

The key isn’t the title — it’s the ability to connect technology with business value.

Forward Deployed Engineer

Why is this role needed?

AI products often need to work with real customer data, systems, and workflows, which can vary widely from one company to another. A Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) works directly with customers to adapt, build and deploy solutions in their environment.

What problems does it solve?

• Bridges the gap between product and customer needs
• Turns complex customer problems into working technical solutions
• Helps move AI from prototype to production
• Brings customer feedback back into the product team

How do you find this talent?

Don’t search only for people with “Forward Deployed Engineer” on their CV.

Look for people with:

• Strong software engineering skills
• Experience solving ambiguous problems
• Strong customer and stakeholder communication
• Ability to work independently and move quickly

Good talent can come from software engineering, solutions engineering, implementation, data engineering or technical consulting.

The key is finding someone who can both build and work closely with customers.

Applied AI Engineer

Why is this role needed?

There’s a big difference between having access to an AI model and building something useful with it. Applied AI Engineers turn AI capabilities into real, production-ready products and solutions.

What problems does it solve?

• Turns AI experiments into working products
• Integrates AI into existing systems and workflows
• Improves reliability, performance and cost
• Builds solutions that can actually scale in production

How do you find this talent?

Look beyond the “Applied AI Engineer” title.

Look for people with:

• Strong software engineering fundamentals
• Practical experience with AI/ML technologies
• Experience building and shipping production systems
• Ability to work with both technical and business teams

Good talent can come from ML engineering, software engineering, data science, backend engineering or FDE roles.

The key is finding someone who can move AI from experimentation to production. 

These are some of the roles our clients have been increasingly focusing on over the past year. What’s interesting is that many of them sit at the intersection of technology, customers and business.
As AI adoption grows, we expect demand for these profiles to keep evolving, with new roles emerging alongside them. For hiring teams, this means looking beyond the job title and focusing on the skills, experience and mindset needed to solve the problem.

For recruiters, it also means looking beyond traditional talent pools and understanding which existing profiles can transition into these emerging roles.