Over the past few months, the Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) model has been gaining momentum in the IT industry as AI labs seek to work directly with enterprises around the world to deploy their AI technology. To counter this trend, Microsoft today announced Microsoft Frontier Company, a new operating business focused on helping enterprise customers deploy AI systems that deliver measurable business outcomes.
Microsoft is investing $2.5 billion in the new organization, which will embed 6,000 industry and engineering experts directly with customers. These teams will work with enterprise organizations around the world to co-design, deploy, and continuously improve AI systems at scale. Rodrigo Kede Lima will lead the new Microsoft Frontier Company as its president. He has been leading enterprise transformation efforts across the Americas and Asia for the past six years.
Microsoft highlighted that this new Frontier Company model goes beyond the typical Forward Deployed Engineering model used by some AI labs. The company stated that it will combine deep industry knowledge, change management experience, continuous improvement practices, and enterprise-grade AI engineering expertise.
Over the past 12 to 18 months, enterprises have started several AI pilots. Microsoft"s goal with this new company is to help customers move from initial AI pilots to “Frontier Transformation.” The company explains that Frontier Transformation refers to using AI to amplify a company’s proprietary data, workflows, expertise, and decision-making processes while ensuring that its intellectual property remains protected.
Microsoft recently worked with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), where its engineers helped embed AI into the LSEG Workspace. The resulting system allows finance professionals to ask complex questions and get answers across structured and unstructured financial content. The company is also working with Land O’Lakes, Unilever, and Novo Nordisk using this new approach. Additionally, Microsoft will collaborate with global systems integrators, including Accenture, Capgemini, EY, KPMG, and PwC, to expand the model globally.
Microsoft specifically mentioned that customer data, IP, and competitive advantage will not be used to train models in ways that commoditize their business knowledge. Furthermore, customers can use the model or AI platform of their choice, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft AI, open-source providers, or specialized industry models, depending on the use case.