Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs).

While some companies are still debating AI governance frameworks and writing 40-page PowerPoints, the real action — the real transformation — is happening on the ground. FDEs at Palantir, Cohere, Anthropic, OpenAI and dozens of hyper-growth startups are embedding with customers, building prototypes in days instead of quarters, and translating impossible workflows into scalable AI solutions.

And here’s the shockwave:

📈 170 million NEW jobs by 2030.

📉 92 million jobs disappearing.

= +78 million net new roles, many of them hybrid, human-centered, and deeply underestimated.

In this episode, Malcolm breaks down why FDEs have become the fastest-growing role in AI (800% YoY), how companies like John Deere, Tesla, Amazon and global banks are using them to unlock billions in operational value, and why this role fundamentally proves one thing:

Humans are not being replaced. Humans are being upgraded.

This episode goes beyond hype. It’s a grounded, data-driven look at AI adoption, the real tasks disappearing, the new skills emerging, and why the companies that refuse to invest in FDE-style talent will lose entire markets to competitors who move faster, learn faster, and deploy faster.

If you want to understand the real future of AI work — not the headlines, but the mechanics — this is the episode.

Key Topics Covered

🔹 The Rise of the Forward Deployed Engineer

• 800% growth in 12 months
• Why OpenAI, Anthropic and Palantir hire FDEs instead of “prompt engineers”
• Human-in-the-loop value creation

🔹 170 Million New Jobs

• World Economic Forum data
• Why net job creation is positive, not negative
• The illusion of “AI job loss panic”

🔹 John Deere’s Precision AI Example

• 60–70% reduction in chemicals
• Agriculture becomes a high-tech industry
• Machines + humans → exponential gains

🔹 The Skills That Actually Matter

• Judgment
• Communication
• Domain expertise
• Curiosity, courage, humility

🔹 Why Traditional Roles Are Evolving, Not Disappearing

• CFOs become “AI-augmented risk allocators”
• Engineers become workflow architects
• HR turns into an AI-powered talent engine

🔹 The Corporate Gap

• Executives planning AI strategy vs.
• 7-year-olds already deploying AI apps (true story)
• Why the adoption gap is a leadership problem, not a tech problem

💬 NOTABLE QUOTES

“AI isn’t replacing humans — it’s replacing humans who refuse to use AI.” “FDEs don’t wait for permission. They deploy, iterate, and learn in real time.” “170 million new jobs is not a warning. It’s a renaissance.” “If your 7-year-old can build a dashboard in five minutes, what’s your executive team’s excuse?” “The companies winning today aren’t the ones with the most strategy — they’re the ones with the most action.”