FDE, the new buzz

Start here

• How this course works7 min
• A week in the role9 min
• Where the role comes from and why AI companies revived it8 min

Discovery

• Discovery interviewing on site8 min
• Map the workflow before the model9 min

Scoping

• The scoping doc9 min
• Definition of done for an AI deployment10 min

Exercises

• The kickoff that asked for a chatbotcasemedium3 min
• Three statements from a transcriptcritiqueeasy3 min
• Sizing a pilot from a week of logsestimatehard3 min
• Sign this scoping doc?critiquemedium3 min

Qualification

• MEDDICC, scored from the engineer's seat9 min
• What the deal depends on8 min

Stakeholders

• Champion, blocker, executive sponsor8 min
• Saying no7 min

Exercises

• Score this dealestimateeasy3 min
• The champion left in week 4casemedium3 min
• The feature request that adds six weekscasehard4 min
• Whose meeting is thiscritiquemedium4 min

Shapes and sizing

• The four shapes of an AI deployment9 min
• Where the model sits8 min
• Sizing the deployment8 min

Prototype and demo

• The three-day prototype and the demo8 min

Exercises

• Pick the shapedesigneasy4 min
• Token budget for the triage queueestimatemedium3 min
• The demo that ran on the sample datacritiquehard3 min

Extract and normalise

• Getting the data out8 min
• Schemas, identity and joins8 min

Auth and the boundary

• Auth and the boundary9 min

Exercises

• Normalise the exportcodeeasy4 min
• The join that doubled the invoicescasemedium4 min
• Which credentials does the pilot needdesignhard4 min

Context assembly

• Context assembly8 min
• The prompt is a spec8 min

Failure modes

• Failure modes on real data7 min

Exercises

• Chunk the policy manualcodeeasy3 min
• Structured output for the claims formdesignmedium4 min
• The prompt that passed the demo and failed the pilotcritiquehard4 min

The eval set

• An eval is not a benchmark8 min
• Building the eval set9 min

Grading

• Exact, rubric and model-graded9 min

Exercises

• Precision or recall for the fraud queuecasemedium4 min
• Score the eval setcodeeasy3 min
• The 94% that meant nothingcritiquehard4 min
• Judge or human for 5,000 casesestimatemedium3 min

Questions you will be asked

• The questionnaire7 min
• Threat model of a deployment8 min

Exercises

• Answer the security reviewcasemedium4 min
• Data residency for the EU subsidiarydesignhard4 min

Rollout

• Crawl, walk, run8 min
• The RACI for a deployment7 min

Writing

• The weekly update and the field note8 min

Handover

• Runbooks and the handover doc7 min

Exercises

• Set the gatesestimatemedium3 min
• Fill the RACIdesigneasy3 min
• The runbook nobody could runcritiquehard3 min

The role

• FDE and its five neighbours9 min
• Career path and the shape of compensation8 min

The interview

• The FDE interview: a typical loop8 min
• Running your own mock8 min

Exercises

• The case round — a triage pilot in 45 minutescasehard4 min
• The deep-dive — defend the evaldesignmedium4 min
• The customer scenario — the CIO wants it on-premisescasemedium3 min
• Behavioural — two answers about the slipcritiqueeasy3 min