AI AND DATA ROLES
FDE vs prompt engineer
Quick answer
A prompt engineer tunes model behaviour; an FDE treats prompts as one part of a system with data, tools, evals and guardrails.
| PROMPT ENGINEER | FORWARD DEPLOYED ENGINEER | |
|---|---|---|
| MAIN OUTPUT | Prompts and prompt libraries | A working deployment inside one customer's systems |
| CLIENT TIME | Lower than an FDE | High: discovery, demos and handover every week |
| WRITES PRODUCTION CODE | Yes | Yes |
| PAY | See FDE salary in India for bands by experience and city. | |