What is an FDE assessment?

A forward deployed engineer assessment tests the whole job: scoping an unclear customer problem, building working software and explaining the result to the customer. Codility runs these as three real-world tasks, each with its own score.

Why assess FDEs with AI switched on?

FDEs use coding agents every day on the job, so an assessment without AI tests a job that no longer exists. Codility includes Claude Code and Codex in the assessment and shows how each candidate used them.

Is there a ready-made assessment, or do we start from scratch?

Start from Codility's plan, build and communicate assessment. Companies define the FDE role differently, so the assessment science team adjusts the skills and scenarios to your job description before you invite candidates.

Can the tasks use our own customer scenarios?

Yes. Professional Services can build tasks from situations your engineers face with customers, scored the same way for every candidate.

Can candidates use Claude Code or Codex?

Yes, when you allow it. AI assistance is switched on or off per task in Screen and per interview in Interview. AI usage is included, with no API keys to set up, and your team can see how each candidate used AI.

How long does the assessment take?

A full assessment for one role usually takes 60 to 90 minutes. Individual tasks take 20 to 60 minutes, so you can spread them across the hiring process.

How is the assessment scored, and who decides?

Every candidate gets the same tasks, scored against the same rules: hidden tests for the code, and defined criteria for the written plan and the customer update. Codility gives your hiring team the evidence, and your team makes the final hiring decision.

Can we assess engineers we already employ?

Yes. Skills Intelligence runs the same assessment across your current engineering workforce, so you can see who is ready to move into an FDE role and who to upskill first.

Hire AI-native forward deployed engineers

FDEs build for customers with coding agents every day. Codility’s FDE assessment tests them the same way, with real-world tasks: scope an unclear request, build in Python with Claude Code or Codex, then explain the trade-offs to the customer.

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AI tools included, no API keys needed Validated assessments since 2009 SOC 2 Type II ISO 27001

Forward deployed engineerExample taskSubmit task

1 Plan2 Build3 Communicate

TaskRoute refund questions to the right teamBuild a router that answers from the customer’s current refund policy and cites its source.

~/support-routerClaude CodeCodex

› route refund questions using the policy docs. cite the source

› the 2023 refund policy is superseded. drop it and rerun the tests

18 passed in 1.12s

AI assistance on for this task · AI use shows in the report

Forward deployed engineering is one of the hardest roles to assess

01

Every company defines the role differently. Some want a production engineer on site with the customer, others a solution architect who scopes the work and hands it off. A generic coding test covers only half of either job.

02

What sets a strong FDE apart happens before and after the coding: finding the customer’s real problem, and handing over cleanly to the next engineer or coding agent.

03

FDEs ship with coding agents, so a take-home without AI tests a job that no longer exists. With AI allowed, the finished code shows little about how the candidate directed the agent.

One assessment that follows the job: plan, build, communicate

Plan: scope an unclear customer request

The candidate reads a customer’s request, the system documentation and what the system actually does. They decide what to build, what to ask first and which decisions belong to the customer. Their written plan is scored against defined criteria.

Codility task workspace with the task brief and an open source file on the left and the AI Assistant panel on the right, sample data.

Codility engineering assessment task in a VS Code style workspace with the code editor, a failing test in the terminal and the AI Assistant panel, sample data.

Build in Python with Claude Code or Codex

A hands-on Python task in a full VS Code IDE, such as a retrieval pipeline that answers questions from a store of documents. Candidates use the real Claude Code or Codex when you allow it, with AI usage included and no API keys to set up. Hidden tests score the result.

Communicate: explain the trade-offs to the customer

The candidate writes the recommendation for a stakeholder who does not code: what changed, what it costs in scope, speed and quality, and what the customer has to decide. Every candidate is scored by the same rules.

A candidate's submitted written response beside the saved AI Assistant conversation, sample data.

Assessment report showing the candidate's submitted code on the left and the saved AI Assistant and Claude Code conversation on the right, sample data.

See how each candidate works with coding agents

Each part of the assessment gets its own score, so a strong coder who skipped the scoping stands out. Read what the candidate asked the agent and what they changed before accepting its answer.

A separate score for plan, build and communicate
Every prompt to Claude Code or Codex, saved to the report
Who directs the agent and who accepts its first answer

Explore Screen for asynchronous hiring

Explore Interview for the final round

The five skills every FDE role shares

Codility’s assessment science team reviewed forward deployed engineer job descriptions at enterprise companies. Five skills appear in every one: scoping a customer problem when the request is unclear, production software engineering in Python, building with AI models and agents, owning delivery end to end, and communicating with technical and business stakeholders.

Skills such as checking how an AI system performs once it is live, enterprise integration or knowledge of a specific platform matter far more at some companies than at others. The assessment science team adds them when your role needs them.

Explore the assessment methodology

Ready for your role in as little as a week

01

Share the role. Send the job description or fill in the role intake form, and tell us what separates a strong FDE at your company from an average one.

02

See what each task measures. The assessment science team maps the role to Codility’s skills taxonomy and shows you how each task is scored.

03

Choose Screen, Interview or both. Screen runs the assessment at volume before the interview. Interview takes the final round live.

04

Calibrate with your own engineers. Your hiring managers and best FDEs take the tasks first, so the passing score reflects people who succeed in the role.

Built on almost two decades of assessment science

87%

of candidates rate their Codility experience good or excellent.

Codility candidate survey, October 2025 to April 2026. 46,863 responses to this question, across Codility assessments.

“The tasks were relevant to real programming problems and focused on practical problem-solving rather than memorization.”
Candidate, Codility post-assessment survey

Candidate feedback survey, October 2025 to April 2026

Before you assess forward deployed engineers

Bring your FDE job description

We will show you the tasks, how each one is scored and how candidates work with Claude Code or Codex.