The sources our lessons cite, plus a few primary artifacts worth reading directly. Every link below is verified against the research that produced the FDE track content; none of them is filler.
Gergely Orosz · Pragmatic Engineer
The single best overview of the modern FDE role: history, Palantir's Dev vs Delta split, OpenAI and Ramp specifics, comp ranges. Start here.
Gergely Orosz · Pragmatic Engineer
The 2026 landscape piece: OpenAI Deployment Company, Anthropic JV with Wall Street, Google Cloud's hiring surge. Time-stamped industry context.
Nabeel Qureshi (ex-Palantir FDE) · Lenny's Newsletter
The best first-person account of why the FDE model worked at Palantir. Source of the 'literally do their same job with your product as an extended member of their team' framing.
TBPN podcast interview · April 2025
Palantir's current Chief Architect on what FDE work means today. Source of the 'product development runs front-to-back from the field' framing.
Apoorv Agrawal
Deep essay on Palantir's culture and the FDE archetype. Source of Sankar's 'X-Men, a medley of mutants' hiring quote.
OpenAI
OpenAI's own page describing the FDE JV, the three-phase engagement model, and Colin Jarvis's team. Primary source.
Anthropic · Greenhouse listing
Anthropic's actual job spec for founding FDEs. Lists MCP servers, sub-agents, and agent skills as the production artifacts. Posted base $200K-$300K.
kbssidhu · Substack
Profile of Palantir's CTO and the person who invented and architected the FDE role.
Palantir engineering blog
The closest primary artifact for what an FDE actually does day-to-day. Old, but still cited by every modern overview.