Wannabe vs. Hired AI Engineer: Beyond RAG, FDE Roles and Degrees

Bashiri Smith · Facebook reel · 2026-08-26 · 1:22 · Open on Facebook

Topics: Resume, Job Search & Interviews, LLMOps, Deployment & Monitoring, Evaluation (Evals) & Testing · Level: beginner

Summary

A short skit that answers four common misconceptions of aspiring AI engineers. Knowing how to build RAG apps and agents isn't enough. Companies need production skills like evals, tracing, monitoring, cost and latency control, guardrails and safety. Forward deployed engineer (FDE) roles build on AI engineering skills, and a master's or PhD matters less than building, evaluating and deploying real systems. The video ends by pitching the creator's coaching group.

Key points

• Building RAG apps and agents is only a small part of AI engineering. Most hiring companies already have these systems built.
• What employers need: evaluating output, tracing failures, monitoring production systems, controlling latency and cost, adding guardrails, and thinking about safety.
• Forward deployed engineer (FDE) roles are mostly AI engineers whose skills are strong enough to deploy systems and work directly with customers. Learn AI engineering first.
• A master's or PhD takes 2-4 years and costs money. Universities don't know where AI is going and don't teach production AI engineering skills.
• Another degree won't change your resume much. Get better at building, evaluating and deploying real AI systems now.
• If the flood of online resources leaves you lost, follow a structured roadmap and get guidance instead of collecting random materials.

Resources mentioned

• Bashiri Smith's AI engineering coaching group (roadmap + daily calls) · community · skool.com · paid
  The creator's program: a group of AI engineers offering a learning roadmap, a personalized learning plan, coaching calls and job-search help.

Try this

• Look past building RAG and agents. Learn evals, tracing, production monitoring, latency and cost control, guardrails and safety.
• If you want to become an FDE, build strong AI engineering skills first.
• Focus on building, evaluating and deploying real AI systems instead of getting another degree.
• Follow a structured learning roadmap instead of jumping between scattered online resources.
• Comment 'real' on the video to get the link to the creator's program.