🚀 Forward Deployed Engineer Checklist

Complete Implementation Framework with AI-Enhanced Guidance

0 of 52 tasks completed (0%)
Phase 0 · Pre-Sales Alignment
0/5
Confirm that business outcomes, success metrics, and ROI expectations are explicit and jointly agreed.
Validate technical feasibility against the prospect's current stack and data posture.
Scope a high-level solution architecture diagram to de-risk unknowns early.
Identify executive champion(s) and day-to-day technical counterpart(s).
Draft a "decision calendar" showing when security review, budget sign-off, and resource allocation must happen.
Phase 1 · Contract & Legal
0/3
Complete mutual NDA and MSA review (IP ownership, data privacy, service levels).
Align on data-processing-agreement (DPA) clauses for AI model usage / retention.
Lock a "statement of work v1.0" with clear deliverables, assumptions, timeline, and change-order process.
Phase 2 · Onboarding & Kickoff
0/6
Schedule a formal kickoff meeting with an agenda covering goals, roles, cadence, and communication channels.
Share a welcome pack: team roster, escalation paths, shared Slack / Teams space, and project wiki.
Gather initial system-access requests (VPN, SSO, cloud IAM, test data, sandbox).
Run a 30-minute "FDE charter" briefing to set expectations about embedded style and ownership.
Establish a joint risk register and RAID log (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies).
Agree on sprint length, stand-up rhythm, and demo/retrospective calendar.
Phase 3 · Discovery & Solution Planning
0/6
Conduct deep-dive workshops to map business workflows, pain points, and KPIs.
Inventory relevant data sources, schemas, and data-quality gaps.
Draft user-stories / job-stories for each key persona.
Build a hypothesis backlog of "quick-win" prototypes vs. "horizon" features.
Produce a detailed technical design doc (TDD) covering integration patterns, AI model selection, and security controls.
Obtain formal sign-off on TDD before writing production code.
Phase 4 · Environment & Access Setup
0/5
Provision cloud resources or on-prem nodes; tag all infra for cost attribution.
Configure CI/CD pipeline, secrets management, and observability stack (logs, traces, metrics).
Set up role-based access control (least privilege) for FDE and client engineers.
Validate network connectivity (VPC peering, firewall rules, VPN).
Perform a "Day-0" smoke test of the deployment pipeline end-to-end.
Phase 5 · Data & Integration
0/5
Implement data ingestion jobs (batch & streaming) with schema evolution tracking.
Create repeatable data-profiling reports to surface nulls, outliers, PII.
Map source-to-target lineage; update the client's data catalog.
Build or extend APIs / webhooks for real-time system interactions.
Confirm data-governance checkpoints: encryption at rest / in transit, retention policy, access audit.
Phase 6 · Solution Design & Rapid Prototyping
0/6
Spin up an interactive prototype (or notebook) to validate model choice and latency/cost targets.
Run a "show-and-tell" demo with end-users to collect early feedback.
Iterate on prompts / parameter sweeps (for LLM or agent logic) in short cycles.
Establish automated benchmark tests for accuracy, drift, and bias.
Decide "build vs. leverage platform capability" for each requested feature.
Freeze an MVP scope and exit criteria for promotion to hardening phase.
Phase 7 · Development, Testing & Validation
0/6
Implement production-grade code with defensive error handling and retry logic.
Maintain unit, integration, and contract tests in the CI pipeline.
Conduct peer code reviews with both FDE and client engineers.
Perform load and resiliency testing under peak expected traffic.
Validate security posture via static / dynamic scans and a penetration test.
Update documentation continuously (README, run-books, API spec).
Phase 8 · Go-Live, Training & Success
0/6
Execute a go-live checklist: feature flags, rollback plan, on-call rota, and alert thresholds.
Monitor key health metrics (latency, throughput, error rate) for the first 72 hours.
Deliver admin & end-user training sessions; capture Q&A for FAQ docs.
Transition ownership of dashboards, run-books, and IAM roles to client ops team.
Conduct a formal "Project Acceptance" meeting and sign-off.
Celebrate joint success—public Slack shout-out, internal newsletter story, or case study kickoff.
Phase 9 · Continuous Improvement & Feedback Loop
0/4
Schedule recurring business-value reviews (monthly or quarterly) to track KPI impact.
Instrument feedback hooks (in-app NPS, session replay, support tickets) and feed them into the product backlog.
Groom and prioritize a post-MVP roadmap with clear t-shirt sizing and ROI estimates.
Identify and mentor internal "champions" to drive adoption and evangelize successes.
0 Completed
52 Remaining
0% Progress