FDE customer-scenario round, a mock transcript with scoring notes

Setup given to the candidate

"You're the FDE assigned to a new client. They bought access to our document-processing platform. You have a 30-minute call with their operations head. Afterwards, write the follow-up email."

Minutes 0–8: the opening request

Client: We get about 1,500 delivery invoices a day from transporters, as PDFs and phone photos. My team keys them into our system by hand. I want your AI to do all of it from next Monday.

Candidate: That's a clear pain point, thank you. Before I say what's possible by Monday, can I understand the flow? When an invoice arrives, who opens it, what fields do they type in, and where do they type them?

Client: Eight people. Transporter name, invoice number, date, vehicle number, amount, GST details. Into our ERP.

Candidate: And what happens when a field is wrong today — how do you find out?

Client: Finance catches mismatches at month end. It's painful.

Scoring note: strong. Asked about the current process and the cost of errors before discussing the product. A weak candidate starts with "our model is 99% accurate".

Minutes 8–15: discovering the real constraint

Candidate: How much of the 1,500 comes from your top ten transporters?

Client: Probably most of it. Maybe 70%.

Candidate: That helps — their layouts repeat, which is usually easiest to automate first. Does the ERP accept data through an API or file import, or only through its screens?

Client: I'd have to ask IT. I think there's an upload.

Candidate: And can you share, say, 200 recent invoices with the correct values your team entered? We'd use those to measure accuracy on your documents rather than quoting a general number.

Client: Possibly. Some have customer details on them.

Candidate: Understood. We can agree what gets shared and how, with your IT or compliance team, before anything is sent. If needed, we can start with invoices where customer details are masked.

Scoring note: strong. Found the integration unknown (ERP input), asked for labelled data to measure accuracy, and raised data handling without being prompted. The 70% question showed the candidate thinking about a phased scope.

Minutes 15–25: pressure on the deadline

Client: This all sounds slow. Your sales team said this works out of the box. I need it live Monday.

Candidate: I understand the pressure, and I don't want to promise something that fails in front of your finance team. Here is what I think is realistic by Monday: we run your 200 sample invoices through the platform and show you field-by-field accuracy, so you see exactly where it's reliable. Within two weeks after that, if the numbers are good, we can start with the top transporters, with your team reviewing every extracted invoice before it goes into the ERP. We widen it as accuracy holds.

Client: Reviewing everything defeats the purpose.

Candidate: At first, yes, partly — but checking a pre-filled form is usually faster than typing it, and it's how we'd find errors before month end instead of after. Once we have a few weeks of data showing which fields are consistently right, we can agree to skip review for those, and keep review for amounts and GST numbers if you prefer.

Scoring note: this is the exchange the round is built around. The candidate did not agree to Monday, did not blame sales, and offered a concrete Monday deliverable plus a path to the goal. The review-reduction plan tied to measured accuracy is what separates strong from adequate.

Minutes 25–30: close

Candidate: Can I summarise? Your goal is to stop manual keying of transporter invoices. By Monday: accuracy report on 200 of your invoices. Open questions: ERP upload format — you'll check with IT — and data-sharing approval. Then a phased start with the top transporters and a review step. Does that match what you need?

Client: Mostly. I'll need something to show my boss.

Candidate: I'll send a one-page email today that you can forward.

Scoring note: strong close. Summarised, confirmed, and offered an artefact the client can use internally.

The follow-up email (written after the call)

Subject: Invoice automation - summary and next steps Thank you for the time today. Summary of what we agreed: Goal: reduce manual keying of transporter invoices (about 1,500 a day). By Monday: we will run 200 recent invoices you share through the platform and send a field-level accuracy report. Needed from your side: the 200 invoices with the values your team entered, shared as agreed with your IT team (masked if required); the ERP import format. Proposed next phase (after the report): top transporters first, with team review before ERP entry; review reduced for fields that stay accurate. Not yet committed: timelines for full automation, which depend on the accuracy results.

Scoring note: concise, forwardable, and explicit about what is not promised. Interviewers often weight this written step heavily.

Rubric used in this hypothetical round

Practising this round

Practise with a partner who pushes back at least twice. Write the email within ten minutes of finishing. Rehearse one sentence for declining a deadline without blaming anyone.

For how the role is structured, see the forward deployed engineer guide. Discovery calls, scoping and written follow-ups are practised in client-style simulations in FDE for Freshers, and the fresher interview bank covers the questions asked before this round.