Building the AI-Native Team

The emergence of forward-deployed engineering as the dominant go-to-market strategy in AI reveals something more profound than a staffing trend—it exposes the fundamental organizational challenge of our era.

Suppose the most sophisticated AI companies in the world need armies of human intermediaries to make their helpful technology. What does that tell us about how enterprises should structure their teams for AI adoption?

The answer isn’t to hire forward-deployed engineers. It’s to understand why they’re necessary and build internal organizational structures that can operate at the intersection of technical capability and business value—the exact terrain where FDEs currently have a monopoly.