WorkThe story, in brief
Decagon Hit $100 Million Betting Against Forward Deployed Engineers
$100M. That's what Decagon just raised betting that embedded AI engineers are the wrong play.
The KeyNews take
Why it matters
A major funding round challenges the 'forward-deployed engineer' model that has dominated enterprise AI adoption—arguing that AI agents, not humans-in-the-loop, are the path to actual deployment at scale.
The key facts
5 to knowDecagon raised $100M
Founded on thesis that embedded engineers slow down AI adoption
Argues agents should replace forward-deployed engineer model
Published Aug 11, 2026
Reflects broader debate on AI deployment strategy in enterprises
Go to the source
Newcomer (VC)newcomer.co
Publisher excerpt: Embedding software engineers long term just means your software doesn’t work, Jesse Zhang argues