FDE interview guides by company

Process

1. Recruiter screen

   ~30 min. Assesses: Background, motivation for conversational AI, comfort with in-office pace. [4]

2. Hiring manager

   ~45 min. Assesses: Product sense and technical depth; take-home usually introduced here. [4]

3. Take-home PRD

   ~3 to 5 hours, PRD for a new platform feature. Assesses: Problem framing, metrics, technical dependencies, MVP scope. [4]

4. Leadership / CEO conversation

   ~30 to 45 min. Assesses: Values alignment, a defended product opinion. [4]

Questions

Customer scenario 1

• Design an AI feature that turns raw conversation data into actionable insights.

  Customer scenarioThird-party guideProduct Manager2026[4]

  From a generic PM guide; not confirmed for Agent PM

Domain 1

• How would you talk through a data model or API design with an engineer?

  DomainThird-party guideProduct Manager2026[4]

  Generic PM guide

Behavioral 1

• How would you define success and adoption for a feature you shipped?

  BehavioralThird-party guideProduct Manager2026[4]

  Generic PM guide

Tips from the sources

• Decagon's Agent PM lead says there is no single background; they hire for traits and look for a 'spike' in product thinking, customer strategy, systems design, or technical implementation. [1]
• Agent PM work spans writing requirements with customers, designing prompt logic, testing tone and correctness, and measuring rollouts; prepare examples across those areas. [1]
• Company values listed on the careers page include speed of execution, inventing what customers want, and a 'polymath' cross-functional bent. [2]

Not found in public sources: No usable first-hand account of the Agent PM, Agent Deployment Engineer, or Agent Strategy Manager loops. Agent PM reports of a hiring-manager screen, case study/data-analysis take-home, live presentation to Agent PMs, and SF onsite exist only on Glassdoor (excluded). Process above is from a generic PM guide and should be labelled as such.

Sources

1. Agent Product Manager. Decagon (Max Lowenthal, Director, Agent PM), 2025-04. Employer-published
2. Careers. Decagon, 2026. Employer-published
3. Decagon jobs (Ashby). Decagon, 2026-11. Employer-published
4. Decagon Product Manager interview guide 2026. Nora AI, 2026-06. Third-party guide
5. Joining Decagon. Matt Savage (Agent PM), 2025-04. Employee account

Process

1. Recruiter call

   Phone screen. Assesses: Background and fit. [3]

2. Technical screen

   ~45 min (15 min background, 30 min coding) on CoderPad. Assesses: Coding on an ambiguous text-relevance problem with some statistics. [3]

3. API design and data modeling

   Interview. Assesses: API and data-model design. [2]

4. Onsite build day

   Full day (~8 hours) at the office: build and deploy an app from scratch to given requirements. Assesses: End-to-end building and shipping. [2]

Questions

Coding 2

• Given a passage and per-position relevance scores, return the most relevant contiguous substring.

  CodingCandidate reportSoftware Engineer (not FDE)2025[3]

  Same problem reported in 2024 (S4); output was left undefined, so clarify it

• Build a React component that displays data and lets the user edit it.

  CodingCandidate reportSoftware Engineer (not FDE)2024[2]

AI build 1

• In one day, build and deploy an app from scratch to a given set of requirements.

  AI buildCandidate reportSoftware Engineer (not FDE)2024[2]

  Type is a full build exercise; AI use not mentioned

Tips from the sources

• Ask the interviewer to define the expected output before coding; the relevance problem was given with inputs but no clear output. [3]
• Brush up basic statistics; candidates said the screen mixed coding with data-science fundamentals. [4]
• Budget a full day for the onsite, which involves building and deploying an app. [2]

Not found in public sources: No FDE-specific interview report found; all process detail comes from software engineer candidates and may differ for FDE. Label clearly as adjacent-role evidence.

Sources

1. Forward Deployed Engineer - Hebbia. Built In (mirror of Hebbia posting), 2026. Third-party guide
2. HebbiaAI Software Engineer interview, New York, Feb 2024. Taro (candidate submission), 2024-02. Candidate report
3. HebbiaAI Software Engineer interview, Apr 2025. Taro (candidate submission), 2025-04. Candidate report
4. HebbiaAI Senior Software Engineer interview, Apr 2024. Taro (candidate submission), 2024-04. Candidate report

Process

1. Technical screen

   Not described publicly; scheduled in Ashby/ModernLoop. Assesses: Not described; listed as the first stage the coordinator schedules for engineering loops. [3]

2. Hands-on coding (x2)

   Two live hands-on-keyboard coding prompts (2024 Fractional AI loop); length not stated. Assesses: Clean code, problem solving, productivity, judgment, and how well the candidate uses an LLM to extend their abilities. [1]

3. Whiteboard client-scoping session

   Whiteboard session framed like a client call scoping a new AI-to-production project; LLM-free (2024 loop). Assesses: Project management, architecture design, decision making, autonomy, customer engagement. [1]

4. Onsite

   In-person interviews at the office; panel held to the same bar for every engineer. Assesses: Full engineering bar (details not published). [3]

5. Debrief

   Internal interviewer debrief with scorecards. Assesses: Hiring decision. [3]

6. Founder / executive chat

   Conversation with a founder or exec, targeted within 48 hours of the onsite. Assesses: Not described. [3]

7. References and real-world work

   References and examples of real projects supplement the loop. Assesses: Real-world signal beyond the interview 'laboratory'. [1]

AI tools in interviews: Fractional AI (Ode's predecessor) published its policy in May 2024: candidates are told the rules in advance; in the two coding rounds ChatGPT-style chat assistants are allowed but inline Copilot is not; the whiteboard client-scoping round is LLM-free. Ode has not published an updated policy; its stated value 'Overuse AI' centers on Claude, so the tool list may have changed. [1]

Questions

Coding 1

• Undisclosed hands-on coding problem completed live; ChatGPT allowed, Copilot not; graded on clean code, judgment and LLM use.

  CodingEmployer-publishedSoftware Engineer (now MTS)2024[1]

  Two such prompts; actual problems not published.

Customer scenario 1

• Act as if on a first client call: scope a new project to get an AI system into production, covering architecture and decisions.

  Customer scenarioEmployer-publishedSoftware Engineer (now MTS)2024[1]

  Employer describes the format, not the exact prompt; chosen so ChatGPT is of limited help. Fractional AI loop as of May 2024.

Tips from the sources

• Expect to be judged on whether you can tell when an AI assistant helps and when it does not; the company treats AI use in interviews as a question of how, not if. [1]
• Do not prepare for a take-home: Fractional AI tried take-homes and dropped them because it could not see how candidates relied on AI tools. [1]
• Bring references and concrete examples of real-world projects; the company uses them to add signal beyond the interview itself. [1]
• The engineer role is about 75% coding and 25% client work, often with client CTOs; be ready to show you can walk senior technical stakeholders through tradeoffs. [6]
• Ode says the pace (two to three products a year per engineer) does not suit everyone and explicitly invites candidates to use the interview to ask engineers what the job is like. [6]
• Teams of 2-5 engineers can apply together: same-day interviews, same panel and bar, and simultaneous offers that each person can accept individually. [2]
• For Forward Deployed PM, show client-facing work under pressure where you pushed back or reframed the problem, and a willingness to use AI heavily in your own workflow. [7]
• The CTO describes the loop as simulating real-world challenges and looking for people who do well in ambiguous, high-pressure settings. [5]

Not found in public sources: No first-hand candidate reports found for Ode or Fractional AI on Reddit, LeetCode Discuss, Medium or third-party prep sites (searches mostly return Fractal Analytics, a different company). The only detailed loop description is Fractional AI's May 2024 blog post, written before the May 2026 acquisition into Ode and the shift to Claude; treat stages and AI-tool rules as possibly outdated. Ode's 2026 postings confirm tech screen, onsite, debrief and founder/exec chat stages but not their content. No published process for Forward Deployed PM or Principal roles beyond the fact that FDPMs sit on FDPM panels (S8). Actual coding prompts are not public.

Sources

1. Technical Interviews in the Age of LLMs. Fractional AI (Eddie Siegel, CTO; now Ode CTO), 2024-05. Employer-published
2. Bring Your Own Engineering Team. Ode with Anthropic (Ashby), 2024-11. Employer-published
3. Senior Recruiting Coordinator & Talent Ops Lead. Ode with Anthropic (Ashby), 2026-10. Employer-published
4. Recruiting Coordinator. Ode with Anthropic (Ashby), 2026-09. Employer-published
5. 1st10 Podcast: The Quiet AI Revolution, Eddie Siegel, Fractional AI CTO. 1st10 Podcast (show notes via Audioscrape), 2025-02. Employee account
6. Member of Technical Staff (SF). Ode with Anthropic (Ashby), 2026-09. Employer-published
7. Forward Deployed Product Manager (SF/NY). Ode with Anthropic (Ashby), 2026-09. Employer-published
8. Forward Deployed Product Manager, Financial Services (SF/NY). Ode with Anthropic (Ashby), 2026-10. Employer-published

Process

1. Recruiter screen

   Initial call. Assesses: Background fit, interest in customer-facing deployment work. [2]

2. Online assessment

   HackerRank assessment, per one unsourced blog. Assesses: Coding baseline. [3]

3. Hiring manager round

   Conversation. Assesses: Prior AI project experience rather than general SWE background. [2]

4. Technical round

   Agent design and coding exercises around Agentforce patterns. Assesses: Agent design, Salesforce platform knowledge. [2]

5. Panel

   Customer scenario exercise plus behavioral assessment. Assesses: Customer handling, behavioral fit; FDE Academy says these rounds usually decide offers. [2]

AI tools in interviews: Salesforce asks candidates not to use AI tools during the interview itself unless the interviewer sets up an exercise that calls for it; AI for accessibility goes through the recruiter's accommodation process. Candidates must not record or transcribe interviews. AI is fine for preparation such as cover letters. (Company-wide guidance, not FDE-specific.) [1]

Questions

AI build 1

• Agentforce topics to expect: prompt engineering, compliance (HIPAA/SOX) and agent rollout strategy.

  AI buildThird-party guideAgentforce FDE2025[3]

  Prep advice, not a reported question.

Domain 1

• Platform topics to expect: Apex triggers, governor limits, SOQL/SOSL, integrations and asynchronous Apex.

  DomainThird-party guideAgentforce FDE2025[3]

  Listed as likely focus areas by a blogger, not reported as asked questions.

Tips from the sources

• Salesforce recruiting recommends answering with the STAR method and asking interviewers how the company uses AI. [1]
• Prepare STAR stories, including remote work and unreliable-network examples (third-party blog advice). [3]

Not found in public sources: No first-hand candidate account outside Glassdoor (excluded). The two third-party process descriptions disagree (OA vs no OA) and neither cites candidates. No Reddit access. No reported questions with provenance beyond topic lists.

Sources

1. Salesforce candidate interview tips. Salesforce (Amanda Norton, Recruiting Communications), 2025-08. Employer-published
2. Does Salesforce hire forward deployed engineers?. FDE Academy, 2026-08. Third-party guide
3. How Forward Deployed Engineers Make AI Agents Drive Enterprise Outcomes. Salesforce Insider blog (Francisco Riojas), 2025-12. Third-party guide
4. Salesforce FDE jobs. Aced, 2026-09. Third-party guide
5. Lead Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentforce. Built In (Salesforce posting mirror), 2025. Employer-published

Process

1. Application review

   Resume review; postings note AI-enabled tools may be used to screen applicants. Assesses: Fit against posted criteria. [2]

2. Recruiter conversation

   Call. Assesses: Background and interest. [1]

3. Take-home assignment (role-dependent)

   Possible take-home. Assesses: Not specified by employer. [1]

4. Hiring manager meeting

   Video or in person. Assesses: Not specified by employer. [1]

5. Final round with team members

   Video conference possible. Assesses: Not specified by employer. [1]

AI tools in interviews: No interview AI-use rule published. Cohere job postings state the company may itself use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants. [2]

Questions

Domain 1

• How have you integrated Cohere in past work, and which components did you use?

  DomainCandidate reportSolutions Architect2023[3]

  Single report; candidate called the process disorganised

Tips from the sources

• Have a concrete example of building with Cohere's own APIs; the one public candidate report was asked about past Cohere integrations. [3]

Not found in public sources: No first-hand FDE candidate account outside Glassdoor (excluded). Third-party guides (techinterview.org, Hashnode/gaijineer, Dataford) either listed generic likely-questions without sourcing or could not be read; not used for questions. Search results mixing in Cohere Health (a separate company) were discarded.

Sources

1. Careers at Cohere. Cohere, 2026. Employer-published
2. Forward Deployed Engineer, Infrastructure Specialist (Middle East). Cohere (Ashby, via posting API), 2026-09. Employer-published
3. Cohere Solutions Architect, Toronto. Taro (anonymous candidate), 2023-08. Candidate report

Process

1. AI-focused exercise or discussion

   Brief exercise or conversation (format not specified). Assesses: How the candidate thinks about, designs and uses AI to drive impact in the role. [1]

2. Level assessment

   Across the loop. Assesses: Level is set during interviews; the posted pay range spans several levels. [1]

AI tools in interviews: Glean's posting says every candidate completes a brief AI-focused exercise or discussion and may reference any AI tools, platforms or workflows they use. It does not address AI assistance during other rounds. [1]

Questions

AI build 1

• Show how you think about, design and use AI to drive impact in your role, referencing tools and workflows you use today.

  AI buildEmployer-publishedFounding FDE2026[1]

Tips from the sources

• Glean says prior Glean experience is not required for the AI exercise; bring the tools, platforms and workflows you already use. [1]

Not found in public sources: No candidate reports or other stages found for the FDE loop. Refresh.cv data on a Glean solution architect role is a tiny, unverified sample and was not used.

Sources

1. Founding Forward Deployed Engineer. Glean (Greenhouse), 2026-10. Employer-published

Process

1. General engineering loop (not FDE-specific)

   Recruiter screen -> hiring manager -> technical round (live C++ coding or a code-review exercise; some teams add a take-home) -> team panel -> final onsite with a presentation of past work or take-home. Assesses: C++ fluency, judgment on imperfect code, domain depth, ability to present and defend past work, mission fit. [2]

AI tools in interviews: Shield AI's FDE posting says the company may use AI tools to support parts of hiring, with humans making final decisions. Nothing found on whether candidates may use AI in interviews. [1]

Questions

Debugging 1

• Review or debug a piece of realistic, imperfect code and critique it.

  DebuggingThird-party guideSoftware engineer (general; not FDE-specific)2026[2]

  Guide says several candidate accounts mention this; not tied to FDE roles

Tips from the sources

• Prepare a tight presentation of a past project and practice defending design decisions aloud; ask the recruiter what your specific loop includes. [2]
• Autonomy FDE postings require strong modern C++ plus intermediate Python, so expect C++ in technical rounds. [1][2]

Not found in public sources: No FDE- or field-engineer-specific interview report found from any source; the only process description is a third-party guide for general software roles. No candidate-reported FDE questions.

Sources

1. Forward Deployed Engineer, Autonomy (open level). Shield AI (Lever posting), 2026. Employer-published
2. Shield AI Interview Guide (2026). techinterview.org, 2026-07. Third-party guide

Process

1. Apply

   Application form and CV. Assesses: Screening. [1]

2. People Team interview

   Introductory conversation. Assesses: Goals, motivation, mutual introduction. [1]

3. Hiring Manager interview

   Conversation. Assesses: Technical skills, experience, problem-solving approach. [1]

4. Case & Presentation

   Role-relevant case, then a 60-minute presentation and discussion with the team. Assesses: Applied problem solving and communication. [1]

5. Final interview

   With the CEO or prospective head of department. Assesses: Mutual fit. [1]

6. Engineering-track note

   Engineering candidates do a coding task and a technical interview. Assesses: Coding. [2]

Tips from the sources

• Legora's FAQ suggests reviewing the job description, exploring the platform, reflecting on past achievements, and preparing questions. [1]
• Level and scope are set by what you demonstrate in the process; some Legal Engineer roles hire across seniority. [3]
• Updates typically arrive within 3 to 5 business days; most candidates finish in 2 to 4 weeks. [1]

Not found in public sources: No usable first-hand Legal Engineer or FDE question. Candidate reports (case on firm adoption, 1-hour case) are on Glassdoor only and excluded. Nora AI's Legora Legal Engineer guide states its questions are inferred, so they were not used.

Sources

1. Careers. Legora, 2026. Employer-published
2. Engineering Manager - Product Engineering. Legora, 2026. Employer-published
3. Legal Engineer, Tax & Audit. Legora, 2026. Employer-published
4. Junior/Mid-level Forward Deployed Engineer. Legora, 2026-10. Employer-published

Process

1. Resume review

   Async. Assesses: Qualification. [1]

2. Self-paced CoderPad technical assessment

   Async online assessment, first step after resume review. Assesses: Practical coding and problem solving. [1]

3. Conversational interview rounds

   Not specified. Assesses: Not specified. [1]

AI tools in interviews: Cresta does not authorize candidates to record interviews or use AI transcription (phone, notetaker app, AI glasses, other devices); exceptions on request. Cresta may itself use AI in recruiting with human review, and candidates can opt out by email. [1]

Tips from the sources

• Cresta frames the CoderPad step as a practical, real-world coding check before any conversations, so prepare for hands-on coding first. [1]

Not found in public sources: Candidate detail (CoderPad with 3 questions in 45 min, OOP-flavored LeetCode practical) exists only on Glassdoor and is excluded. No questions from a usable source. Dataford's Cresta FDE guide could not be opened (HTTP 429).

Sources

1. Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (AI Agent). Cresta, 2026-10. Employer-published
2. Forward Deployed Product Manager, AI Agent. Cresta, 2026-10. Employer-published

Process

1. Application review

   CV plus a 'Statement of Exceptional Work', read by a technical team member (no recruiters). Assesses: Evidence of exceptional past work; posting calls the statement a key deciding factor. [1]

2. Technical phone interview

   About 15 min. Assesses: Background and specialisation. [1]

3. Main process

   Four interviews: 15-min technical screen, two 45-min coding interviews, 1-hour 'Meet the Team'; Google Meet or in person; aim to finish within a week. Assesses: Coding ability and team fit. [1]

Tips from the sources

• Treat the Statement of Exceptional Work as the primary filter; the posting says it is a key deciding factor. [1]

Not found in public sources: No FDE question reports or candidate accounts found outside Glassdoor/Blind. Search snippets describe another xAI FDE posting variant with Rust/C++/Go plus Python coding and a design interview, but those pages returned 404 and could not be confirmed. No current FDE opening found on xAI's Greenhouse board (Nov 2026).

Sources

1. Forward Deployed AI Engineer - Enterprise. Built In (mirror of xAI posting), 2025-08. Employer-published
2. xAI interview process. Aced, 2026. Third-party guide

Process

1. Short technical interviews

   2-3 short technical interviews (stated on Cursor's AI Deployment Manager postings, not on FDE postings). Assesses: Not stated. [1]

2. Onsite project

   In-office onsite: work on a small project, discuss ideas, meet the team (AI Deployment Manager postings). For engineering hires the CEO describes a two-day onsite on a real project with a demo. Assesses: Whether the candidate can do real work and cares about the problem; mutual fit. [1]

AI tools in interviews: CEO Michael Truell said (June 2025) that first technical screens are done without AI beyond autocomplete. This was said about engineering hiring generally; no FDE-specific statement found. [2]

Tips from the sources

• Cursor's CEO says the in-office project days double as a culture interview: candidates eat with the team and demo what they built. [2]

Not found in public sources: No FDE-specific process, questions or candidate reports found. Process stages above come from adjacent AI Deployment Manager postings and CEO statements about engineering hires; applying them to FDE is an inference.

Sources

1. AI Deployment Manager - Singapore (posting since closed). Cursor (Ashby), 2026-10. Employer-published
2. Inside Cursor's hiring strategy: no AI in interviews and a 2-day project with the team. Business Insider (via AOL), Lee Chong Ming, 2025-06. Third-party guide
3. Forward Deployed Engineer (San Francisco) (posting since closed). Cursor (Ashby), 2026-10. Employer-published
4. Cursor interview prep. learncursor.dev, 2026-10. Third-party guide

Process

1. In-person interview (possible, at offer stage)

   Candidates who reach the offer stage may be asked to interview in person at a Cloudflare office or hub; details given at that stage. Assesses: Not stated. [1]

Not found in public sources: No FDE interview stages, questions or candidate reports found. Postings emphasize Workers / Workers AI and enterprise customer work, but nothing confirms a Workers take-home for FDEs. Related Cloudflare take-home reports exist only for other roles (Glassdoor, excluded; a 2020 intern assignment).

Sources

1. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE). Cloudflare (Greenhouse), 2026-10. Employer-published

Process

1. Initial recruiting interview

   Call with recruiting team. Assesses: Background; recruiter explains the three Legal Engineer tracks and matches you to one based on fit and hiring needs. [1]

AI tools in interviews: Harvey postings say the company uses AI in its recruitment process but makes no automated decisions and has humans review AI output. Nothing published on candidate AI use. [4]

Tips from the sources

• Harvey says legal judgment is the core requirement for Legal Engineers, not technical skill; product training happens on the job. [2]
• Know which track fits you: Pre-Sale (demos, pilots with AEs), Post-Sale Product Specialist (onboarding, enablement, agents on real matters), or Custom Solutions (no-code multi-step workflows). [1]
• Legal Engineer work centers on loading a prospect's real documents, building a workflow, testing, and refining it; be ready to discuss a concrete workflow from your practice. [2]
• Finance Engineer postings ask for advanced Excel/modeling, comfort with prompting and agentic workflows, and ability to lead a live demo or workshop. [3]

Not found in public sources: No public first-hand account of the Legal Engineer or Forward Deployed Finance Engineer interview beyond the recruiter step. Third-party Harvey guides (techprep, techinterview.org, Taro) cover software engineers only. No software-titled FDE role found on Harvey's board.

Sources

1. Legal Engineer (Law Firm, Corporate). Harvey, 2026-06. Employer-published
2. A day in the life of a Legal Engineer. Harvey, 2026-04. Employer-published
3. Forward Deployed Finance Engineer, Private Credit. Harvey, 2026-10. Employer-published
4. Staff Software Engineer, Full Stack. Harvey, 2026. Employer-published

Process

1. General loop (not FDE-specific, editorial)

   Recruiter screen (incl. ITAR/US-person status) -> hiring manager call -> 45-60 min coding or design round (C++/Python) plus domain rounds -> ~45-min behavioral. Assesses: Eligibility, team fit, practical coding, domain depth, shipping under pressure where software meets hardware. [1]

Tips from the sources

• Prepare two or three stories where software met hardware and something went wrong; candidates report some short or rushed interviewer calls, so be ready to drive the conversation. [1]
• The FDSE posting stresses networking (TCP/IP, UDP), sensors and debugging from low-level networking to autonomy behavior, and up to 50% field travel; prepare examples there. [2]

Not found in public sources: No first-hand FDE interview report readable outside Glassdoor (excluded). Dataford's Saronic FDE guide returned 429 and is largely paywalled. No sourced questions, no employer process description, no AI policy.

Sources

1. Saronic Interview Guide (2026). techinterview.org, 2026-07. Third-party guide
2. Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Austin, TX). Saronic (Ashby posting), 2026-10. Employer-published