Forward Deployed Engineer compensation
Forward Deployed Engineer Salary at AI Startups (2026)
The median Forward Deployed Engineer salary at AI startups is $180,656, based on 216 disclosed job postings ($50,000–$300,000 range). Updated July 2026. These are aggregate figures only; we never publish an individual company's offer.
$50,000Minimum
$180,656Median
$300,000Maximum
Sample size: based on 216 disclosed salaries.
01
Median Forward Deployed Engineer salary by funding stage
| Funding stage | Median salary | Sample size |
|---|---|---|
| Series G+ | $180,656 | 75 |
| Series A | $180,000 | 22 |
| Series C | $180,000 | 22 |
| Series D | $176,000 | 24 |
| Series B | $170,000 | 42 |
| Seed | $165,000 | 10 |
| Series F | $140,000 | 9 |
| Growth | $75,000 | 5 |
02
How we calculate this
Roughly a quarter of AI-startup postings disclose pay. We extract the USD range from those that do, normalize each to a midpoint, and aggregate across distinct postings (deduplicated by posting ID). The minimum, median, and maximum above are based on 216 disclosed salaries. We publish aggregate ranges only, never a single company's salary, so the numbers stay representative rather than anecdotal.
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