Forward Deployed Engineering
Forward Deployed Engineering is the Webscale AI service that gets your data ready for AI agents. Forward Deployed Engineers are commerce data experts who work inside your team. They find the data agents can't answer from today and map it into the Commerce Context Engine.
Who are Forward Deployed Engineers?
Section titled “Who are Forward Deployed Engineers?”Forward Deployed Engineers are commerce data experts who work inside your team. They find the data AI agents can’t answer from today and map it into the Commerce Context Engine, the data layer every Webscale AI product runs on.
Forward Deployed Engineering is the service Forward Deployed Engineers deliver. It runs from the first data review through launch and continues after it.
Why do AI agents need Forward Deployed Engineers?
Section titled “Why do AI agents need Forward Deployed Engineers?”AI agents answer from data. Many stores hold the facts shoppers need in places an agent can’t read. Attributes are missing or inconsistent across variants. Fit and compatibility details sit in PDFs and spec sheets. The answers to the hardest questions often live only in the heads of your most experienced staff.
Software can connect to your systems, but it can’t capture knowledge nobody has written down. Forward Deployed Engineers close that gap by working with the people and documents that hold it. Is your product data ready for AI agents? describes the common gaps.
What do Forward Deployed Engineers do?
Section titled “What do Forward Deployed Engineers do?”Forward Deployed Engineers work on your data before launch and keep working on it after.
- Audit your catalog. They find missing attributes, gaps between products and their variants and data that goes stale.
- Interview your experts. They capture what your best people know about fit, compatibility and the questions shoppers ask.
- Map and normalize your data. They bring catalog data, documents and expert knowledge into one structure in the Commerce Context Engine.
- Review real conversations. After launch they read what shoppers ask and keep tuning the data and configuration.
What does your team provide?
Section titled “What does your team provide?”Your team provides two things: access to your data and time with your experts. Forward Deployed Engineers need to read your catalog and the systems behind it. They also need sessions with the people who answer shoppers’ questions today, such as sales associates, support agents and product specialists.
How does a Webscale AI pilot work?
Section titled “How does a Webscale AI pilot work?”A pilot is a trial of the AI Shopping Assistant on your store, run under a pilot agreement with Webscale. Webscale confirms fit before setup starts.
A pilot moves through four milestones, in this order.
| Milestone | What happens |
|---|---|
| Initiation | Goals, use cases, success measures, stakeholders and meeting cadence are agreed. The pilot agreement is signed |
| Enablement | Your catalog is brought in and normalized, your experts are interviewed and the AI Shopping Assistant is set up for your team first, with a shared test plan |
| Value creation and adoption | The AI Shopping Assistant goes live to shoppers when both teams agree its answers are right. Usage grows against the value agreed at the start |
| Validation | Results are assessed against the success measures and next steps are decided |
The AI Shopping Assistant goes live only when both teams agree its answers are right.
Key takeaways
Section titled “Key takeaways”- Forward Deployed Engineers are commerce data experts who work inside your team.
- They find the data AI agents can’t answer from today and map it into the Commerce Context Engine.
- Their work covers catalog audits, expert interviews, data mapping and tuning after launch.
- Your team provides access to data and time with your experts.
- A pilot moves through four milestones and goes live only when both teams agree the answers are right.
Frequently asked questions
- What does my team need to provide to Forward Deployed Engineers?
- Access to your data and time with your experts. Forward Deployed Engineers need to read your catalog and back-office data. They also interview the people who answer shoppers' questions today.
- What is a Webscale AI pilot?
- A pilot is a trial of the AI Shopping Assistant on your store, run under a pilot agreement with Webscale. Webscale confirms fit before setup starts.
- When does the AI Shopping Assistant go live?
- The AI Shopping Assistant goes live when both teams agree its answers are right, after testing against real shopper questions.
- Does the work stop at launch?
- No. After launch, Forward Deployed Engineers review real conversations and keep tuning the data and configuration as shoppers ask new questions.