In Singapore, a surge in demand for forward deployed engineers—tech professionals combining software skills with client-facing abilities—has created at least 35 openings on major job portals and corporate career pages as of June 12, according to The Straits Times. These openings add to the 200 forward deployed engineers that OpenAI plans to hire or train in Singapore in the next few years, announced in May when it established its first Applied AI Lab outside the United States. American cloud company Databricks, which already employs about 30 forward deployed engineers in Singapore, plans to add over 30 positions this year. The phenomenon has emerged in the last two years as companies deploy AI in real-world operational settings. Recruitment agency Randstad Singapore saw over 400 active job listings for FDEs on local job portals in 2025, up from 80 listings in 2024. Annual pay for a mid-career forward deployed engineer is at least $120,000, compared to $80,000 for a traditional business analyst and at least $90,000 for a traditional software engineer. Databricks offers a monthly pay of at least $20,700 for an advertised role, while Singtel pays at least $5,000 a month.