What does a Forward-Deployed AI Engineer actually do?
Follow one real production AI system from business decision through requirements, architecture, build, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, handoff, and improvement.
Project File 001 follows 77 Rules, a real human-in-the-loop AI system that reviews executive dashboards using multimodal AI, explicit rules, deterministic scoring, and human verification.
Built for experienced technical practitioners and technical leaders who want to own more of the production problem, not just one component of it.
I’ll show you the work, including the parts that did not go neatly.
I’m Stephen McDaniel. I’ve spent most of my career in the awkward space between a business problem and the system that eventually has to work. FDE Lab is where I take that work apart in public: the architecture, decisions, tests, revisions, and tradeoffs that usually disappear from a polished demo.
Sometimes the right answer is more AI. Sometimes it is a rule, a better workflow, a simpler system, or not building the thing at all. I’ll show you the evidence and tell you what I think.
Stephen McDaniel · Founder, YakData
03 · The 7-episode journey
Seven production decisions, from definition to ownership.
Each episode opens on a real artifact, shows the decision at stake and what can go wrong, and closes with the next build, test, release, or handoff decision.
Episode 01
Decide What Deserves to Be Built
Define the decision, owner, scope, definition of done, and build-or-stop choice.
Proof: decision map + scope/acceptanceEpisode 02
Turn Expert Judgment Into System Requirements
Turn expertise into rules, evidence, context, workflow states, errors, and testable contracts.
Proof: rule/evidence schemaEpisode 03
Design the Production System and the Work
Design the architecture, frontend/backend contracts, constraints, observability, and overlapping work.
Proof: role/dependency graphEpisode 04
Build the Production-Shaped Vertical Slice
Move one representative case through every critical layer before broadening the backlog.
Proof: vertical-slice architectureEpisode 05
Make the AI Earn the Right to Be Trusted
Benchmark the real task, test critical misses and false alarms, and verify human control.
Proof: benchmark + failure matrixEpisode 06
Turn the Working Slice Into a Production System
Harden validation, retries, versions, regression, telemetry, deployment, and recovery.
Proof: production-readiness checklistEpisode 07
Transfer Ownership and Improve the System
Package the runbook, test evidence, recovery knowledge, extensions, metrics, and next decision.
Proof: ownership/handoff package
04 · Project Files
Learn from the artifacts engineers actually use.
Start with the free map and Starter Pack. The $99 Field Library adds the complete 77 Rules case and four specialist working packs.
Free · No email
FDE Production Map
The end-to-end production path with role overlap, release checks, and handoff points.
If your team is trying to turn an AI experiment into something people can rely on and own, YakData handles the definition, build, evaluation, deployment, and handoff.