Kris Diallo
Forward Deployed Engineer

I deploy AI into real companies.

FDE at Cresta, San Francisco. My days are discovery calls, architecture docs, evals, and deployments into environments that were never designed for AI. I write about the role — and coach engineers into it.

Kris Diallo
San Francisco, 2026.
The Road Here

Chicago → Providence → Atlanta → San Francisco.

2001

Born in Chicago

Where the story starts.

Chicago, IL
2019

Computer Science, Brown University

CS degree, hackathons, and the Ivy League network. I built the experiences and skills that still shows up in my work.

Providence, RI
2023

Software Engineer, Salesforce

Enterprise software (with a blend of AI) at scale - the traditional SWE role that my whole career starts from.

San Francisco, CA
2024

Founding CTO, Guala

Built and scaled a fintech app for micro-sellers and the GTM AI systems around it. First time deploying AI into a real business: my own.

Atlanta, GA
2025

Founder, Vocalink AI

Freelance voice agents for salons and studios - inquiry, booking, and payments over voice and text. FDE work before I had the title.

Atlanta, GA
2025

Forward Deployed Engineer, Cresta

Fifth FDE on the team. Deploying AI agents into real contact centers - the work that matters.

San Francisco, CA
2026

Turned down a Founding FDE offer

Chose to teach the path and build the tools to help others for myself instead of climbing to the spot for one company.

The 90-Day FDE Path