Forward Deployed Engineer as a Service

A Forward Deployed Engineer for your company.Without hiring one.

You need someone on site who understands your real workflows and builds AI directly into them. But not a 300,000-dollar head on payroll. IJONIS delivers FDE work as a fixed service: two to three embedded hands, 8 to 12 weeks, one clear price. Built for mid-market and SME.

Request a call

The problem

AI bought. Nobody uses it.

A mid-market company runs 40 to 60 software tools, glued together by spreadsheets and word of mouth. That is exactly where a Forward Deployed Engineer belongs. You just cannot fly one in from San Francisco.

Tools that never connect

CRM, ERP, field app and accounting do not talk to each other. Data gets typed three times.

Pilots that never ship

88 percent of enterprise AI pilots never reach production. It is almost never the model.

Nobody knows the real workflow

Consultants deliver slides. What is missing is someone who sits next to your team and actually builds the process.

Hiring one is out of reach

An FDE at an AI lab costs 300,000 to 500,000 dollars a year. And the search takes months.

The comparison

Three ways to get an FDE. Only one fits you.

Hire your own, engage a Big-4 firm, or bring in an embedded service. The difference is price, speed and access. That matters most for mid-market companies and SMEs.

Hire your own FDE

Cost: 300,000 to 500,000 dollars per year
Time to start: 4 to 6 months of hiring
Commitment: Permanent headcount
Risk: Wrong hire, high fixed cost

IJONIS FDE as a Service

Cost: 30,000 to 80,000 euros, fixed scope
Time to start: Days, not months
Commitment: 8 to 12 weeks, clear end
Risk: Fixed milestones, working system

Big-4 or Pexon

Cost: Enterprise day rates
Time to start: Long lead time
Commitment: Usually only from 300 employees
Risk: Too big for the mid-market

How it works

From day one to a working system in 8 to 12 weeks.

A small team, embedded with you. Fixed milestones, not open-ended consulting.

01Week 1 to 2

Embed & map

We sit next to your team, observe real workflows and find the process with the highest leverage.

02Week 3 to 8

Build in production

AI and automation get built directly into your tools. Production, not prototype.

03Week 9 to 12

Hand over & control

The system runs, your team operates it, and you keep full governance over every AI action.

Why now

In 2026 the role jumped from a Palantir niche into the mainstream.

OpenAI, Anthropic, Accenture and EY all hire Forward Deployed Engineers. The mid-market needs the same work, at its own scale.

729%

growth in FDE job postings, April 2025 to April 2026

5,330

open FDE roles globally as of April 2026

8-12

weeks from day one to a working system

Reference: Sparki Operations Hub

Four fragmented systems unified, the Excel coordination layer retired, one single source of operational truth. Live in twelve weeks.

View projects

Questions before you buy

What decision-makers ask first.

Price, speed, on-site work, data protection. Short and direct.

What is a Forward Deployed Engineer? The 2026 role explained →

A fixed scope runs between 30,000 and 80,000 euros for 8 to 12 weeks. The price is set before we start. No open-ended day rates.

In days, not months. There is no months-long recruiting search. After a short scoping call the team embeds.

Embedded, the way a real FDE works. On site where it matters, remote where it is more efficient. Close enough to truly understand your workflows.

No. This service exists precisely for you. Big-4 and large providers often start only from 300 employees. IJONIS is deliberately positioned below that.

The AI integration is built GDPR-compliant, made in Germany. You approve every AI action and keep full control.

The system runs and your team operates it independently. We can stay on if you want, but there is no forced ongoing commitment.

~/ijonis/contact