Inside AI With Econify: AI Interviewing Practices & Recruitment Strategies

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how we work, how we learn, and increasingly, how we get hired. During our recent Inside AI webinar where we led a discussion group on, “AI Interviewing Practices and Recruitment Strategies,” we brought together engineers, hiring managers, designers, leaders, and early-career candidates to talk openly about where AI fits into the modern interview process. What emerged in a session that we would love to have extended, was a lively, candid conversation that revealed both the promise and the complexity of this moment.

AI in Interview Preparation and During Interview

One of the most memorable early moments came from a simple analogy: if a toy comes with a battery, the toy does the entertaining; if it doesn’t, the child has to engage their imagination. AI can function the same way. It can either replace your thinking or enhance it, depending on how you choose to use it. That framing carried through much of our discussion. As a group, we all generally agreed that AI is a powerful tool for sharpening ideas, practicing responses, and helping candidates feel more confident. It is not a shortcut that should substitute for genuine knowledge or experience.

Several participants emphasized how essential AI has become in the preparation phase. One early-career engineer put it bluntly: “If you’re not using a review tool, you’re falling behind in your interview.” They didn’t mean that AI creates expertise out of thin air, but rather that it helps candidates pull their experience to the forefront, rehearse clearly, and walk into a conversation feeling grounded and informed. Others shared that they now rely on AI to build quick company briefs or interviewer profiles, which helps them engage more personally and avoid vague or generic answers. In that sense, using AI before an interview is an entirely acceptable part of what good preparation looks like.

Things however got more complicated when the focus shifted to using AI during the interview itself. Here, the line between support and dishonesty becomes much sharper, especially since many interviews are conducted remotely. Most attendees felt that real-time use of AI—especially if hidden—crosses into cheating. One story in particular illustrated why: a recruiter had recently encountered a candidate who couldn’t make the meeting, so they sent an AI-generated avatar to the interview instead. No doubt it was creative, yes, but undeniably unacceptable. The human connection still matters, and an avatar simply can’t replace it. Not yet anyway!

This sparked a broader question: are interviews outdated for an AI-enabled workforce? Some argued that if AI is part of the daily workflow for many roles, it might deserve a place in the interview as well. Developers aren’t asked to code without an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) anymore, and no one expects them to memorize endless language details. AI is becoming another tool in the stack. A few participants described interview formats that invite candidates to use AI openly, followed by a deep dive into how they interpret, extend, or modify what the AI produces. In these cases, the interview becomes less about avoiding AI and more about understanding a candidate’s reasoning, judgment, and adaptability.

In person interviewing on the rise?

Even while these forward-looking approaches evolve, there is also movement in the opposite direction. A number of attendees noted that their companies are increasing the amount of in-person assessment after seeing rising levels of AI-assisted cheating in remote tests. Some organizations now use AI-detection software to flag suspicious behavior during online interviews, while others rely on plagiarism scanning for coding exams. Educational institutions are responding similarly; one participant shared that a public high school in New York City abandoned online application essays entirely and now requires students to come in person and write by hand. It’s an interesting window into how both schools and employers are trying to preserve authenticity in an AI-saturated world.

Some of the most compelling insights came from a startup leader who described how his team handles interviews. Rather than relying on tests or hypothetical questions, they invite candidates into the office - some of us are old enough to remember always being in an office!), pay them for the day, and work together on a real problem the team has not yet solved. Everyone sits around the same table, uses the same tools—including AI—and collaborates naturally. This approach eliminates most opportunities for misrepresentation while offering a high-signal, honest view of how someone actually works. The challenge, as the group acknowledged, is scalability. What works for a six-person start-up team is much harder to replicate inside a company of six thousand.

As the discussion continued, the idea of a “cheating arms race” surfaced. Even as companies adopt new monitoring tools, AI is advancing quickly enough that candidates could soon receive help invisibly through audio, wearables, or other discreet means. It raised an important philosophical question: is our energy better spent policing AI, or redesigning assessments so that cheating becomes irrelevant? The room leaned toward the latter. When interviews focus on real-world collaboration, explanation, and problem solving, shallow or AI-dependent knowledge becomes immediately obvious.

It’s worth noting that AI isn’t only shaping how candidates prepare or perform. It is also changing the way hiring teams evaluate applicants. Several attendees shared that their teams now use AI to summarize candidate data, compare profiles, refine interview rubrics, or draft job descriptions. In effect, AI is becoming a constant presence on both sides of the table, which makes clarity and transparency even more important. If everyone is using AI, the real differentiator becomes not whether you use it, but how thoughtfully and responsibly you do so.

Toward the end of the session, attention shifted to early-career talent. Some participants voiced concern that the rise of AI, combined with shrinking entry-level roles, could narrow pathways for juniors who need real-world experience to grow into the next generation of senior engineers. Companies want people who can direct AI effectively, but those people typically emerge from years of hands-on work—work that juniors historically performed. It’s an industry-wide challenge that demands intentional effort: more mentorship, more structured learning opportunities, and a commitment to developing talent rather than relying solely on those who already have it.

Across all perspectives, a few qualities consistently emerged as markers of an effective, AI-enabled candidate. Employers want people who use AI openly and intelligently, who can explain or adapt AI-generated output, and who understand the underlying concepts deeply enough to extend or correct the AI when needed. High-level systems thinking, good judgment, and the ability to break complex problems into actionable steps are becoming more important than ever. In many ways, these are the same qualities that have always defined strong candidates—AI simply brings them into sharper focus.

Concluding Thoughts on AI in Recruitment Right Now

As we wrapped up, one of the Econify team members summarized the sentiment well: there is no silver bullet yet. The hiring landscape is shifting quickly, and everyone—candidates, interviewers, and companies—is learning in real time. AI is pushing us to rethink what a productive, fair, and meaningful interview looks like.

What became clear from our discussion is that AI is no longer an add-on or novelty in the hiring process. It’s shaping expectations, reshaping behaviors, and revealing new ways to evaluate talent. Both the challenge and the opportunity lies in finding the right balance between authenticity and efficiency, between technological assistance and the candidate’s/recruiter’s (human) judgment, and between preparation and integrity (especially during the interview itself). No doubt it’s a balance we’ll be navigating together for a while, but conversations like this one are both fascinating and a meaningful step forward.

Keep an eye out for our next Inside AI with Econify event.