AI FDE School

Two courses · Online training

Learn to make AI work inside real organizations.

AI FDE School offers practical, project-based online training for two roles: the AI Engineer, who builds products on top of AI models, and the Forward Deployed Engineer, who gets AI working inside a customer's business. Every class is live, hands-on and taught in real time.

Book a free info session Compare the two courses

FDE starts Nov 1 · AI Engineer starts Nov 29 · $3,900 first batch

  • Online
  • Non-credit skills training
  • For US learners and teams
Hands pointing at a laptop screen while colleagues work through a problem together at a table
AI FDE School crest

01Two courses

Two roles, one school

Both roles are about making AI useful in practice. They differ in where the work happens and who it is for. Course details are still being finalized.

AI Engineer

Build products and features on top of AI models, and make them reliable enough to ship.

Starts Sunday, November 29, 2026 · 8 weeks · 100 hours · $3,900 first batch

  • Agents that use tools without going off the rails
  • Retrieval that grounds answers in real data
  • Evaluation, safeguards and monitoring

Best for software, backend and data engineers who want to build with AI.

See the AI Engineer course

Forward Deployed Engineer

Take an AI product from a working demo to running inside one customer's business.

Starts Sunday, November 1, 2026 · 8 weeks · 100 hours · $3,900 first batch

  • Scope a problem with the people who own it
  • Connect AI to real systems, data and access rules
  • Roll it out, hand it over and write it up

Best for software and data engineers, solutions and customer engineers, and technical consultants.

See the FDE course
AI EngineerForward Deployed Engineer
What you buildAI-powered features and products for many usersWorking AI solutions inside one customer's business
Where you workOn a product team, in your organization's own codebaseEmbedded with the customer's team, at their office, remotely or at your own
Core skillsAgents, retrieval, evaluation, reliabilityDiscovery, integration, rollout, clear communication
Works most withProduct managers, designers and other engineersThe customer's operations, IT and business teams
Success looks likeUsers relying on a feature that stays accurate and fastA customer using it in their daily work

Role titles vary from employer to employer. These descriptions summarize how the roles are commonly described.

How you learn

A live classroom, not a video library.

Every one of the 100 hours is a live class. You learn by doing, in real time, with your trainer and classmates in a virtual classroom.

  1. Every class is live

    All 100 hours are live sessions, taught by a trainer in a virtual classroom, Monday to Saturday.

  2. Hands-on in real time

    You build during class, with your trainer working alongside you, instead of watching a video and working alone afterward.

  3. Questions answered on the spot

    Ask as questions come up and get answers in the moment. Limited seats keep each group focused, so everyone is heard.

Many online courses are self-paced, with only a few live sessions. This program is live from the first class to the last.

Two people drawing a diagram together on a whiteboard

FreeInfo sessions

New to these roles? Come and learn.

Free live online info sessions for each course: what the role is, why it has appeared now, and whether it suits you. Each runs at four different times on four Saturdays. No obligation.

See the free info sessions
  1. FDESaturdays: Oct 3, 10, 17, 24
  2. AI EngineerSaturdays: Nov 7, 14, 21, 28

02In the room

Where the work actually happens

The model is the easy part. The hard part is the conversation around it: learning how a team really works, building something they will use, and showing that it works.

A group seated around a meeting-room table watching a presentation on a wall screen
A person standing beside a wall covered in sketches and diagrams
A laptop showing a results dashboard with charts

03Why now

Demand for both roles is growing fast

Companies are finding that building an AI model is the easier part. Getting it working inside a real organization, and building reliable products on top of it, is the hard part. That is the work of these two roles.

AI Engineer

#1LinkedIn ranked AI engineer the fastest-growing job title in the United States on its Jobs on the Rise 2026 list, which covers January 2023 to July 2025.
75,000AI engineer postings among the 639,000 AI-related US job postings LinkedIn added between 2023 and 2025.
2.5%Share of US job postings that mention AI skills in 2025, up 55% from 2024.

US job postings mentioning agentic AI skills

Share of all US postings, Lightcast data in the Stanford AI Index 2026

0.25%0.125%0 0.06%0.23% 20242025

Sources: LinkedIn, Jobs on the Rise 2026 (Jan 7, 2026); CBS News reporting on LinkedIn data (Apr 16, 2026); Lightcast analysis in the Stanford AI Index Report 2026 (Apr 13, 2026). Job-title categories vary by source, and LinkedIn's "AI engineer" title can include roles also called machine learning engineers. These figures describe demand for a role. They are not a prediction of any individual's results, and AI FDE School does not guarantee employment, salary or any other outcome.

Forward Deployed Engineer

+1,000%Growth in postings for forward-deployed engineering roles, January–August 2026 vs. the same months of 2025.
≈$188KMedian advertised salary for these roles, vs. about $145K for typical software engineer postings.
≈13%Growth in broader tech job postings over the same year, for scale.

Postings vs. 2023 (2023 = 1×)

Forward-deployed engineering roles, Lightcast data

50×25×0 1×≈4.3×≥47× 2023Jan–Aug 2025Jan–Aug 2026

Source: Lightcast data reported by Fortune (Sep 3, 2026). The Jan–Aug 2025 bar is derived from two reported growth rates. These figures describe demand for a role. They are not a prediction of any individual's results, and AI FDE School does not guarantee employment, salary or any other outcome.

04Details

The courses at a glance

Format
Live online classes: hands-on, taught in real time in a virtual classroom, with Q&A.
Type
Non-credit skills training. Not a degree; no academic credit.
Length
8 weeks and 100 hours for each course
Schedule
Monday to Saturday, 2 hours a day. No classes on Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Those sessions are made up at the end, so each course still totals 100 hours.
Batches
Two batches: morning, 6:00 to 8:00 AM, and evening, 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Start date
AI Engineer: Sunday, November 29, 2026.
Forward Deployed Engineer: Sunday, November 1, 2026.
Price
$3,900 per course, the introductory price for the first batch of each course (Forward Deployed Engineer: Sunday, November 1, 2026. AI Engineer: Sunday, November 29, 2026). The planned price for later batches is $5,220 per course. US dollars. Payment is not taken on this site yet.
Refunds
Full refund if requested within the first 30 hours of class (15 days of two-hour classes).
Seats
Limited, to keep each group small and focused and the standard high.
Taught by
Trainers with 25+ years of industry experience, including work at startups, Oracle, Amazon, Google and Meta. Past experience only. AI FDE School is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by these companies.
Enrollment
Interest list is open. Enrollment opens when course details are final.
A laptop, notebook, coffee and phone on a dark wooden desk

Who it's for

  • Software and data engineers moving toward customer-facing or AI-focused work
  • Solutions, sales and customer engineers who want deeper technical skills
  • Technical consultants and product professionals who build with AI
  • Teams that need to get AI working inside their own business
Reserve your interest

05For teams and employers

Training for your team

Bring forward deployed engineering or AI engineering skills to your engineers and solutions staff. We are preparing team enrollment options for companies.

  • Group enrollment options, coming soon
  • A briefing call to discuss your goals
  • Details on format, dates and pricing as they are confirmed
About team training

06Questions

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the two courses?

The AI Engineer course is about building AI-powered products and features: agents, retrieval, evaluation and reliability. The Forward Deployed Engineer course is about getting AI working inside one customer's business: discovery, integration and rollout. See the comparison above.

What is an AI Engineer?

A software engineer who builds products and features on top of existing AI models, using agents, retrieval, evaluation and safeguards. The focus is on shipping reliable AI features, not on training new models from scratch.

What is a Forward Deployed Engineer?

A software engineer who works alongside a customer to make a product, often an AI system, work in that customer's real business. They build, connect, customize and train, and they bring what they learn back to the product team.

Can I take both courses?

The Forward Deployed Engineer course starts on November 1 and the AI Engineer course starts on November 29, so they overlap for part of their run. We have not finalized how learners who want both will be scheduled. Tell us on the interest form and we will let you know.

Who teaches the courses?

Our trainers have 25+ years of industry experience, including work at startups and at companies such as Oracle, Amazon, Google and Meta. Those companies are named only to describe past experience. AI FDE School is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

How many seats are there?

Seats are limited so every learner gets attention, each group stays focused and the standard stays high. We will confirm details when enrollment opens.

What is the refund policy?

You can request a full refund at any time within the first 30 hours of class, which is 15 days of two-hour classes.

Do I need prior experience?

We are finalizing prerequisites. The courses are designed for people with some technical background, such as software, data or solutions engineering. Details will be published before enrollment opens.

Is this a degree or college program?

No. AI FDE School provides non-credit, skills-based training. It is not a degree program, is not an accredited college or university, and does not award academic credit.

Do you guarantee a job?

No. We do not offer job placement and we do not guarantee employment, salary or any other outcome. Our goal is to teach practical skills. What you do with them is up to you.

Are the classes live or self-paced?

Every class is live. You learn hands-on, in real time, in a virtual classroom, with your questions answered as you go. It is not a self-paced video course.

What is the class schedule?

Classes run Monday to Saturday, two hours a day, with a kickoff and a final showcase on Sundays. That is 100 hours for each course. No classes on Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Those sessions are made up at the end, so each course still totals 100 hours. The Forward Deployed Engineer course starts on Sunday, November 1 and finishes with its showcase on Sunday, January 3, 2027. The AI Engineer course starts on Sunday, November 29 and finishes on Sunday, January 31, 2027. Two batches run each day: 6:00 to 8:00 AM and 7:00 to 9:00 PM.

When does it start, and what will it cost?

The Forward Deployed Engineer course starts on Sunday, November 1, 2026 and the AI Engineer course starts on Sunday, November 29, 2026. The introductory price for the first batch of each course is $3,900 per course. The planned price for later batches is $5,220 per course. All prices are in US dollars. Payment is not taken on this site yet. Join the interest list and we will email you when enrollment opens.

Can my employer sponsor my training?

We are preparing team enrollment options. Tell us about your team through the form below and we will follow up. Whether your employer pays for training is a matter between you and them.

Who can take the training?

AI FDE School is an online program offered to learners and teams in the United States.

Interest list

Be first to know

Tell us a little about yourself and we will email you when course details, dates and pricing are confirmed.

  • No payment is taken on this site today
  • One email when details are ready, plus occasional course updates
  • Your details are used only to contact you about AI FDE School
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