Method · Forward Deployed Engineers
AI doesn’t get installed. It gets deployed.
A Forward Deployed Engineer comes to work inside your business, on your real accounts, until the work runs on its own. That’s our job — our only job.
Definition
What is a Forward Deployed Engineer?
A Forward Deployed Engineer — FDE — is an engineer deployed forward, on the client’s side. They don’t sell a licence and they don’t hand over a report: they sit alongside your team, learn how the work really gets done, connect your systems, build what’s missing, and stay accountable for the outcome.
The model was born at software companies working with large organisations. It took off with AI for a simple reason: an AI model is useless until it’s connected to your data, your tools and your rules. That connection is where the value lies — and it’s the FDE’s job.
- A consultant recommends. An FDE builds.
- A software vendor sells a tool. An FDE runs your operations.
- An agency does the work by hand. An FDE hands it to agents, and answers for it.
Why Amazon
Why it’s the right model for Amazon
An Amazon account isn’t fixed by one more tool. Five reasons.
Every account is different.
Vendor codes per country, suppliers with their own habits, margin, freight and threshold rules: no off-the-shelf software knows them. We write them down with you.
The work happens between systems.
Vendor Central, the API, EDI, your suppliers’ emails and spreadsheets, carrier portals: value leaks through the gaps between these tools. An FDE connects them.
Amazon changes often.
A modified page, a new rule, a shorter deadline. You need someone who spots it the same day and fixes the agent.
Some mistakes are final.
An accepted cost decrease, a rejected line, a replaced ASN can’t be undone. Knowing where to put a human takes inside knowledge of Amazon.
Value is counted in euros and hours.
Not in features. Every gain in your plan is written with its assumption and reviewed every month.
The method
The method, step by step
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Step 01
Audit and action plan
- Read-only, over twelve months: orders, receiving, invoices, deductions, chargebacks, disputes, catalogue, costs, compliance, suppliers, pages tracked or not — 21 areas.
- Every figure carries its source and date. Every gain, its assumption and level of evidence: confirmed, likely, to be checked.
You getThe action plan, in English and French, always visible in your workspace.
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Step 02
Integration
- An Amazon application (SP-API) created in your company’s name, EDI feeds, Vendor or Seller Central, mailboxes, suppliers.
- Your rules written down in black and white: who ships what, margin thresholds, freight, your suppliers’ hours.
You getA map of your systems and your rules.
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Step 03
Agent deployment
- One agent at a time, in plan order: the most profitable first.
- Three stages: simulation on your real purchase orders; a one-week dry run where the agent logs what it would have done; then live, once you agree.
- Every agent has its own switch. Turning it off puts things back exactly as they were.
- 1Simulation
- 2One-week dry run
- 3Live, once you agree
You getAgents in production, and a log for each one.
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Step 04
Ongoing operations
- Immediate alerts only when money or a deadline is at stake; everything else in a daily summary.
- When something breaks, we fix the agent — not just today’s case — and tell you what prevents it from happening again.
- Every month, the plan is reviewed: planned versus delivered.
You getAn account that runs, and someone who answers for it.
Principles
Six rules we don’t negotiate
- 01
Fix the agent, not the incident.
A mistake fixed by hand comes back. A mistake fixed in the agent doesn’t.
- 02
Read-only until you say yes.
Nothing is written to Amazon without your agreement.
- 03
A person on every action that commits you.
Costs, agreements, chargebacks, credit notes: the agent prepares, a person approves.
- 04
Every figure has a source and a date.
Anything unverified is marked “unverified”.
- 05
Never two clients mixed.
No agent starts until your keys, data, session and agents are kept apart from those of every other client.
- 06
A rule only changes by your decision.
Your thresholds, your suppliers, your priorities stay yours.
On your side
What we need from you
- A point person who knows the account and can make decisions.
- Access, in your name — we guide you step by step.
- Your decisions on the rules, and your approval on sensitive actions.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to change our tools?
No. We plug into what you already use — Vendor or Seller Central, EDI, your email, your files — and add what’s missing.
Who holds the access?
You do. The Amazon application is created in your company’s name, and the keys are kept in a vault of your own. You can revoke the authorisation at any time.
Can AI make mistakes in Amazon?
An agent can make a mistake, just like a person. That’s why anything that commits your money or can’t be undone goes through human approval, why every agent first runs a one-week dry run, and why it stops rather than guesses when something doesn’t add up.
How long until the first agent?
The audit comes first. Then each agent goes through its three stages: simulation, a one-week dry run, live. The exact timeline is in your action plan.
What if we want to stop?
Each agent switches off on its own, and your access is in your name: you revoke it whenever you decide.
Do you work beyond Amazon?
Amazon first. Extending the same method to Faire, Ankorstore, B2B marketplaces and buying groups is in preparation.
Are you affiliated with Amazon?
No. Selli is independent of Amazon.
Let’s see what an FDE would change for you.
It all starts with a read-only audit. Then you decide.