₹1 cr annual salary package: With AI growth, MNC demand, this job is set to become highest-paid engineer role in India

Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) roles are on track to become highest paid engineers in the country, according to a report by AI-native technology education company Scaler and CyberMedia Research (CMR).

The ‘India’s FDE Opportunity report’, surveyed 1,000 software engineers and 200 enterprise technology decisionmakers across eight metros and select Tier II cities to note that 88% of enterprises expect demand for FDE capabilities to grow by 2030, but only 1% of engineers are in explicit FDE roles today.

“FDE is shaping up to be one of the most defining engineering careers of this decade. As companies worldwide race to turn AI into business outcomes, engineers who can bridge the gap between AI technology and its real-world application will be central to making this shift happen,” said Amar Srivastava, CEO — Online Business & Group CPO, Scaler.

What is Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE)?

According to the report, as enterprises build artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday operations, they increasingly need engineers who can sit with the customer, understand what the business needs, and take an AI solution from idea to deployment. That is the work of a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), and it is rapidly becoming one of the most important and coveted roles in India.

— FDEs help bridge the gap between AI innovation and real-world outcomes, which puts India’s engineering workforce in a strong position to lead the AI transition.

Gap goes beyond skills

— The report finds that the gap goes beyond skills; it is also awareness.

— Nine in ten engineers are not aware of a structured path to upskill for FDE roles, even as 58% say they are looking to transition into one.

— The capabilities enterprises value most in FDEs are applied AI, taking products into production and working directly with customers. These are also the areas where engineers feel least confident.

— Coding, once the clearest differentiator, is now just the starting point: enterprises are twice as likely to test candidates on deployment skills as on coding.

— 61% of enterprises prioritise customer engagement in FDE roles, yet 37% of engineers cite it as their biggest career barrier.

— 77% of enterprises prioritise production deployment skills, but talent availability stands at just 19%.

— 51% surveyed enterprises prioritise assessments of production deployment and troubleshooting when evaluating FDE candidates.

Opportunity for annual salary packages of ₹40 lakh to ₹1 crore

For engineers who build these skills, the opportunity could be significant.

— 80% of engineers in explicit FDE roles report annual incomes ranging from ₹40 lakh to ₹1 crore.

These figures highlight the earning potential associated with FDE capabilities and the opportunity for engineers to build specialised skills for this emerging career, the report added.

Further, the findings point to an emerging opportunity for India: developing a specialised engineering career pathway while addressing gaps in applied AI, production deployment and customer-facing problem-solving.

“For India, this presents an opportunity to build on its existing engineering talent by strengthening applied AI, deployment and customer-facing capabilities. Developing these skills will be key to preparing engineers for emerging FDE roles, enabling them to bridge the gap between technology development and real-world business implementation,” feels Prabhu Ram, Vice President – Industry Research Group (IRG), CMR.

Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.

About the Author

Jocelyn Fernandes is a journalist and editor with nearly 13 years of experience covering the business, corporate, economy and markets beats in news.<br> As chief content producer for around three years at Livemint (Hindustan Times), Jocelyn publishes breaking stories, explainers, features and live blogs on a range of business and economy topics, including the Budget, corporate developments, stock markets, income tax, money and personal finance, cryptocurrency, government policy, impact of US tariffs, international developments and more.<br> Jocelyn's writing philosophy is focused on delivering news in an accurate and accessible format for readers. She thus focuses her news coverage on explainers and FAQs in order to breakdown business, corporate, economic, and policy topics that are of importance to everyday readers.<br> She holds a Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism and Communication and has previously written for online business and markets news site Moneycontrol (Network18), Business-to-business (B2B) trade publications — the industry magazines Power Today and Solar Today (ASAPP Media), and the national news agency United News of India (UNI).<br> Outside of work, Jocelyn keeps up-to-date with local and international news, enjoys reading fiction books, novels and short stories, and enjoys movies, travelling and art. <br> She can be found on X and LinkedIn, and reached by email: <a href="jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in">jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in</a> <br> X/ Twitter handle: <a href="https://x.com/scribeJocelyn">@scribeJocelyn</a> <br> LinkedIn: <a href="https://in.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-fernandes-journalist">LinkedIn</a>