Why do forward-deployed engineers get paid so much? It comes down to the skill that filters out most engineers: customer skills. You need to sit with a non-technical person, take a vague, ambiguous problem, and break it into a plan.
You have to explain technical decisions in the customer's language, not yours. And you need real ownership, so when it breaks at 5pm on a Friday, you're the one who fixes it. As one forward-deployed engineer hiring guide puts it: technical skills get you in the door, customer skills get you the offer.
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