Ode with Anthropic vs Salesforce (Agentforce forward deployed engineering)
Side-by-side from the Top 11 ranking of Forward Deployed Engineer vs Sales Engineer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026. Last verified September 2, 2026.
The short answer
Ode with Anthropic ranks higher on Top 11 (#5 vs #10) for Founders, chief executives and chief technology officers in New York, San Francisco and the wider United States who are sitting across from a technical person in a vendor meeting and cannot tell whether that person is there to close the deal or to build the thing.. A $1.5 billion services firm built on Fractional AI, 100 engineers, aimed at mid-size companies.
At a glance
| Ode with Anthropic | Salesforce (Agentforce forward deployed engineering) | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #5 / Forward Deployed Engineer vs Sales Engineer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026 | #10 / Forward Deployed Engineer vs Sales Engineer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026 |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 7.9 | 6.9 |
| Best for | Mid-size US companies with chief executive buy-in already secured | Existing Salesforce customers deploying Agentforce |
| Pricing | pricing undisclosed; enterprise engagements, terms not public | $$$$ bundled with platform licensing; engineering terms not published separately |
| HQ | United States | San Francisco, CA |
| Founded | 2026 | 1999 |
Ode with Anthropic
A $1.5 billion services firm built on Fractional AI, 100 engineers, aimed at mid-size companies.
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715205134/en/Anthropic-Blackstone-and-Hellman-Friedman-Introduce-Ode-with-Anthropic-an-Enterprise-AI-Services-FirmSalesforce (Agentforce forward deployed engineering)
Real embedded engineers attached to a licence. Deloitte now offers the same model bought separately.
www.salesforce.com/company/careers/Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.