Rival charges $40K/month per forward-deployed engineer; this shop does it with 1.5 people plus agents
alex_verem · x · 2026-11-15
A services provider breaks down competitor pricing of up to $40K/month ($230/hr) for a single forward-deployed engineer, with architect and PM costs on top. He notes the hourly-billing paradox: engineers finishing faster with AI means fewer billable hours.
His firm instead staffs 1.5 people (one senior engineer working with agents full-time, plus partial architect/analyst time) versus the 4-6 engineers needed pre-agents, starting at $17K/month, month-to-month, with no pay if they don't deliver.
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