According to the latest report by Business Insider, as large models and generative AI accelerate their penetration into the industry, the demand for composite practical talents in the tech industry has seen explosive growth. Monitoring data from the job platform Indeed shows that the number of job postings for forward deployment engineers in the US has jumped from 643 at the same time last year to 5,330 in April of this year, an increase of 729% year-on-year.

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Currently, top large model unicorns such as OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as tech giants and star companies like Google Cloud, Palantir, and Stripe, are all vying for talent in this position with substantial rewards. The average annual salary for this role has climbed above $170,000 to $200,000.

This surge in popularity reflects the AI industry's dramatic shift from "technology research and development" to "commercial implementation." The core responsibilities of forward deployment engineers are no longer solely about model training but involve deeply engaging with commercial front lines, helping enterprise clients seamlessly integrate cutting-edge AI technology into existing business processes, and conducting customized development based on specific business scenarios.