Team spotlight: Seth Daly, Forward Deployed Test Engineer

Seth Daly calls himself an accidental generalist. At Georgia Tech, he received his B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering while cultivating a broad skillset across humanoid robotics, complex rheology, and biomechanics. “I’ve always enjoyed the process of interfacing with real-world hardware and making things with my hands,” he reflects. That skillset landed him at Anduril, where he worked as a Development Test Engineer for over four years.

Then, his team received a demo of Revel—a new software platform they were considering adding to their stack. It took Seth completely by surprise: “I felt like Revel was solving the exact same problems I had faced over and over as a test engineer.”

Every test engineer at some point comes up against the brick wall of dissatisfaction, which Seth describes as “knowing you could run a better test, and knowing you have no shortage of brainpower, but being fundamentally limited by tools.” He knew that it should have been possible to build better automations and speak to many different devices at once, but his team didn’t have the software to make it real. He was constantly fighting their existing software (a mix of in-house and off-the-shelf), pushing it far beyond what it was built to do, then waiting on another software team when his setup changed. Walking back and forth across campus (“Anduril’s campus is not small,” Seth remarks) to check on tests in the test lab gave him plenty of time to consider the inefficiency of it all: “I often wondered if there was a better way to do things.”

So Revel resonated with him immediately. “When I realized the power that Revel had, I knew there was a better future for testing that I wanted to be a part of. The product was so intentional and so well-thought-out that it made me feel very seen,” he recalls. After meeting Revel’s team, he had confirmation that “Revel wasn’t blindly following a hot trend. Most of the team had spent their entire careers solving this exact software problem across different hardware domains.”

Seth knew that working at Revel would be a significant transition, but was keen to expand his aperture. “I’d never been this close to a software org before, all my work experience had been designing, building, and testing physical systems,” he shares, “but I joined specifically for the opportunity to leverage my existing skills as a test engineer and to accelerate my own learning.” Moving to Revel didn’t require leaving everything behind to become an expert in traditional software development—rather, all of his experience as a test engineer would be applied to understanding how Revel would interact with real-world complex hardware systems.

His first day as a Forward Deployed Test Engineer was “like drinking from the firehose.” He was stretched to consider not just the specific end goal of a single piece of hardware, but how Revel’s diverse customers would use the platform. Working at Revel would require him to broaden his thinking beyond his own experience and understanding of testing to the entire hardware industry, but he was up for the challenge.

Armed with a tool bag, a computer, and ethernet cables, he soon took ownership of key Revel deployments, driving successes for Hermeus, K2 Space, Amca, and more in his first few months. He became an expert at reading between the lines of customer requests, translating them into feedback for the platform and product teams: “The team relies heavily on FDEs to clearly understand users and bring in high-signal feedback.” And his expertise from previous roles came into play as he gave lab setup recommendations, researched and wired compatible components, and helped users execute tests once stands were fully converted over to Revel.

Seth notes that part of the value FDEs can provide to customers comes from their intelligence on the hardware industry at large. Seeing "how basically all of the coolest hardware startups did testing” meant his own knowledge and intuition increased at an exponential rate—far faster than if he’d only worked on one vehicle or product every day. “Our customers trust us to understand how bespoke data acquisition works, to make hardware recommendations, and to propose how to accomplish a certain task in the best way,” Seth says. “We distinguish ourselves with a level of technical excellence that’s valuable beyond the solution Revel provides.”

The expectation for excellence is built into Revel’s culture as well. Seth describes Revel as “a high-trust environment, where individuals are empowered to deliver on large, open-scope problems.” Everyone on the team strives to embody that philosophy, especially Scott, who Seth characterizes as “critically damped,” borrowing a term from critical systems: “He doesn’t get too high on wins and doesn’t get too low on losses. He is quick to move based on his intuition, not beholden to thorough analysis of every possible outcome. He is relaxed and confident, and doesn’t take himself so seriously that he can’t have a laugh. He is hyper-aware of the culture and the team dynamics that make a company great.”

Looking forward, Seth is focused on scaling the FDE function for test customers. He views FDEs as the glue that can bind together many functions of the company—business, software engineering, product, design. And looking back, Seth remembers feeling like “pointy” individuals who were good at one niche thing seemed to stand out more than he did in college. Now, he sees that being well-rounded was his most valuable asset upon entering industry and joining Revel. “This is a very generalist role,” he says, “and I accidentally cultivated a generalist skillset.” For anyone curious about joining Revel, his best advice is an affirmation: “Forward Deployed Test Engineers get to work on all of the fun parts of test engineering while solving new, ambiguous, high-stakes challenges. We interface with the coolest, most cutting-edge hardware, get exposure to diverse setups, and put the best tools in the hands of our amazing customers.”

We’re currently hiring for Forward Deployed Test Engineers. Apply here or reach out to our team to learn more.