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We help technology companies build and run Forward Deployed Engineering functions.

Forward Deployed Engineering is the model that made Palantir one of the most successful enterprise software companies in history. Most companies trying to adopt it fail because they hire wrong, structure wrong, or don't know what good looks like. We've spent 7 years inside the model and now help companies build their own.

Featured in The Pragmatic Engineer

Our work on Forward Deployed Engineering was featured in The Pragmatic Engineer — the definitive deep-dive on FDE organizations read by 500,000+ engineers.

Founded by Palantir veterans. 7 years running Forward Deployed Engineering. 1,000+ technical interviews. Hands-on keyboard when it matters.

We are a small practice backed by a team of senior, Palantir-trained Forward Deployed Engineers who lead day-to-day delivery and interviewing.

FDE Advisory Framework

Our framework offerings productize the work of standing up and running an FDE function. All prices exclude VAT.

Advisory Retainer

Month-to-month, three-month minimum. Weekly working call, monthly engineering working session, monthly strategic catch-up, Slack Connect, ad-hoc review.

Pricing: £12,000 / month.

Operating Model + Hiring System Sprint

A fixed three-week engagement producing three written artefacts: an Operating Model Blueprint, a Hiring Playbook, and a Positioning Addendum.

Pricing: £30,000.

3-Month Engagement

The Sprint above, then a nine-week embedded phase: weekly working calls, account shadowing, capped engineering coaching 1:1s, and a monthly leadership sync.

Pricing: £75,000.

Interview Question Design

A one-time, per-role-profile package: profile design, 10–15 calibrated questions, per-slot rubric, and a calibration session.

Pricing: £3,000 per profile. £2,000 per profile if bought alongside another option. First profile waived with the Sprint or the 3-Month Engagement.

Interviewing-as-a-Service

A per-interview rate that attaches to any option or stands alone. Live interview, written hiring thesis within 48 hours, and async follow-up. Delivered by our Interview Bench.

Pricing: £600 per interview.

Read more about the FDE Advisory framework →

Fractional Technical Leader

A separate, higher-touch line of work. We embed with early-stage companies as their first senior technical presence. Depending on what the company needs, that might mean:

  • Building an MVP when there is no team yet
  • Hiring the founding technical team
  • Establishing ways of working and engineering culture
  • Being the technical sounding board for a non-technical founder
  • Managing organizational friction as the company scales

This is our highest-touch engagement. We take on two to three at a time.

Recent engagements:

  • A health-tech startup where we embedded as the first senior technical presence — hiring the founding team, establishing ways of working, and acting as the technical sounding board for a non-technical founder.
  • An early-stage company where we owned the technical build, developing the MVP while the founder focused on commercial traction.

Pricing: Retainers typically start at £20,000 / month. Scoped per engagement.

Clients

  • Comand AI — Designed hiring process for mission-driven FDE-style engineers. Case study →
  • Northslope Technologies — Built bespoke hiring framework defining cultural traits vs role competencies. Case study →
  • Prodigal Tech — Building FDE organization from the ground up.
  • Object Edge — Building Palantir services practice with FDE hiring and strategy.
  • Plus confidential Fractional Technical Leader engagements across health-tech and early-stage product companies.

Recent Writing

More on anjor.xyz/writing →

Get in Touch
Email work@platypustech.xyz
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/anjor-kanekar

Not ready to talk yet? Check out our FDE Advisory Materials or browse recent writing.