Slalom vs Microsoft Frontier Company
Side-by-side from the Top 11 ranking of Forward Deployed Engineer vs AI Engineer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026. Last verified August 30, 2026.
The short answer
Slalom ranks higher on Top 11 (#10 vs #11) for Founders, chief executives and chief technology officers in New York, San Francisco and the wider United States deciding whether their next hire or vendor should be a forward deployed engineer embedded in the business or an AI engineer building models and products.. Local consulting with knowledge transfer. Explicitly built to leave, not to embed.
At a glance
| Slalom | Microsoft Frontier Company | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #10 / Forward Deployed Engineer vs AI Engineer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026 | #11 / Forward Deployed Engineer vs AI Engineer: 11 Best Firms to Hire in the United States in 2026 |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 6.2 | — |
| Best for | Local US consulting teams with knowledge transfer built in | Microsoft enterprises wanting embedded experts, not more licences |
| Pricing | pricing undisclosed; custom-quoted per engagement | pricing undisclosed; outcome driven enterprise engagements, terms not yet public |
| HQ | Seattle, WA | Redmond, WA (operating business within Microsoft) |
| Founded | 2001 | 2026 |
Slalom
Local consulting with knowledge transfer. Explicitly built to leave, not to embed.
www.slalom.comMicrosoft Frontier Company
Microsoft's $2.5 billion bet on embedded delivery, launched July 2026.
techcrunch.com/2026/07/02/microsoft-launches-its-own-ai-deployment-company-with-2-5-billion-commitment/Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.