About — ground truth, literally
In remote sensing, ground truth is the measurement you take by walking out to the field with an instrument, so you can check whether what the satellite claims is actually there. It is slower than the model, and it is the only thing that can correct it. We took the name because it describes the method: go and look, measure carefully, then build.
Forward Deploy Engineering
Five stages, one engineer, no handover.
The person who sat on the dispatch desk is the person who writes the dispatch software. It costs more per hour and less per outcome, and it is the only way we know to avoid building a beautiful answer to the wrong question.
01EmbedAn engineer on site, in the room where the work happens.
02ObserveMeasure the process as it is, not as the org chart describes it.
03DiagnoseName the single constraint. Write it down. Agree on it.
04BuildShip the smallest thing that moves that constraint.
05DeployStay until it is used daily, then hand over cleanly.
Principles
Go and lookNo requirement survives contact with the floor. Go there first.
Name the constraintOne sentence, written down, agreed by everyone. Then build against it.
Small and finishedA narrow thing that works beats a wide thing that almost does.
Measure afterShipping is the midpoint of the work, not the end of it.
Leave cleanlyDocumented, tested, handed over. No dependency on us by design.
Story
2019Two engineers, one client, a warehouse in Rotterdam.
2021Forward Deploy Engineering named and made the default engagement.
2023Suvio separated into its own company.
2026Fourteen people, three countries, a lab budget that survives quarterly review.