As health systems push artificial intelligence from pilots into everyday operations, a new type of engineer is moving closer to the clinical front lines.
OpenAI and Microsoft are hiring forward-deployed engineers specifically for healthcare work, while Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center is recruiting one of its own. Optum is also hiring for the role.
Unlike traditional software engineering roles, forward-deployed engineers work closely with the organizations using the technology, helping translate workflows and technical environments into AI systems that can operate in production.
OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team, for example, works with healthcare organizations to deploy AI across clinical, operational and member-facing workflows, according to an OpenAI job posting.
The company is recruiting a healthcare forward-deployed engineer in New York City. The engineer is expected to own the technical solution end to end, from customer discovery and workflow scoping through architecture, hands-on implementation, evaluation, production deployment, adoption and handoff. The role may involve EHRs, claims systems, operational tools, enterprise APIs and data platforms.
OpenAI’s posting cites healthcare experience with Epic, Oracle Health/Cerner, Meditech, HL7, FHIR and health information exchanges among potentially relevant backgrounds. The role requires up to 50% travel, another indication of the position’s emphasis on working directly with customers.
Microsoft is taking that model directly into its partnership with Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic.
Microsoft is hiring a forward-deployed AI engineer for health who will initially focus exclusively on the Mayo Clinic collaboration. The engineer will serve as a technical lead between Microsoft AI and Mayo, embed with teams across both organizations and work within Mayo’s clinical data platforms, APIs and legacy enterprise systems. Regular travel to Mayo Clinic is required.
Microsoft described forward-deployed engineering as working directly within the complexity of a partner organization and remaining involved beyond prototypes through integration, deployment, validation and adoption.
The hire comes as Microsoft and Mayo work to develop and deploy a frontier AI model designed specifically for healthcare. The organizations announced the collaboration June 2, saying the model will initially be deployed within Mayo Clinic’s clinical environment for testing and refinement.
Health systems are beginning to build the capability internally as well.
Rush University Medical Center posted an opening Aug. 24 for a forward-deployed engineer focused on AI and healthcare technology. The position sits within a rapid-response, cross-functional “tiger team” and is tasked with turning emerging AI capabilities into production-ready tools.
The engineer will work with clinicians, executives, data scientists and IT teams and connect AI models and applications with systems including Epic, Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow and PACS. The role also includes developing APIs and data pipelines, moving AI models from testing into production and helping employees adopt new AI workflows.
Optum is similarly recruiting forward-deployed engineers to build and deploy AI-powered tools within client environments. The engineers will work on LLM-based workflows, copilots and automation tools and support engagements with healthcare payers and providers.
The hiring activity points to an emerging challenge: As healthcare organizations expand their AI portfolios, deploying the technology increasingly requires engineers who understand not only the AI itself, but also the complicated workflows, data systems and infrastructure into which it must fit.
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