Google Could Let Engineers Use AI During Job Interviews

Google’s new approach aims to assess both technical skills and the ability to work effectively with AI tools.

Google is preparing to test a new interview format that reflects how software engineering itself is rapidly changing in the AI era.

The company is piloting a hiring process that will allow software engineering candidates to use artificial intelligence tools during technical interviews, marking a significant shift from the traditional approach where outside assistance was strictly prohibited.

According to an internal document reviewed by Business Insider, the pilot program is designed to evaluate not only technical ability but also how effectively candidates can work alongside AI systems in real-world engineering environments.

The move signals a broader transformation happening across the technology industry, where AI is increasingly becoming part of the daily workflow for developers rather than a tool kept outside the hiring process.

Google Wants Interviews to Reflect Real Engineering Work

The new interview structure is part of what Google describes as an effort to better align hiring with the “modern engineering landscape.”

Under the pilot program, candidates applying for junior to mid-level software engineering roles will be allowed to use an approved AI assistant during the company’s “code comprehension” interview round.

Initially, Google plans to use its own AI model, Gemini, as the approved assistant during the testing phase.

Instead of writing code entirely from scratch under isolated conditions, candidates will now be expected to work in a way that more closely resembles actual software development environments. The interview round will focus on reading, debugging, understanding, and optimizing existing codebases while using AI support tools responsibly and effectively.

According to the document, interviewers will assess areas such as prompt engineering, output validation, debugging ability, and overall AI fluency.

In practice, this means candidates will not simply be judged on whether AI produces an answer. They will be evaluated on whether they know how to guide AI properly, verify outputs, identify mistakes, and make sound engineering decisions independently.

AI Is Already Reshaping Software Development

The change reflects how deeply AI has already entered modern software engineering workflows.

Google recently disclosed that roughly three-quarters of new code generated internally is now assisted by AI systems. Similar shifts are happening across the broader technology sector as coding models become more capable.

In late 2025, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic released more advanced coding-focused AI systems that significantly improved automated software generation and debugging capabilities.

Greg Brockman recently said AI-generated code inside engineering workflows has expanded from roughly 20% to nearly 80% in some environments.

As a result, the skillset companies are looking for is beginning to shift.

The ability to collaborate effectively with AI tools is increasingly becoming just as important as writing every line of code manually.

Google’s new hiring process appears to acknowledge that reality directly.

The Traditional Technical Interview Is Starting to Change

For years, software engineering interviews across the tech industry relied heavily on algorithmic problem-solving exercises performed under strict conditions without external tools.

Critics have long argued that these interviews often failed to reflect real engineering work, where developers regularly use documentation, collaboration platforms, debugging tools, and increasingly AI systems.

Google’s pilot suggests the company is starting to move away from measuring memorization alone and toward evaluating practical engineering judgment.

The company’s internal document reportedly describes the new format as “human-led, AI-assisted,” emphasizing that candidates must still demonstrate independent reasoning and technical understanding.

AI may help accelerate workflows, but Google still wants engineers who can recognize faulty outputs, refine solutions, and understand systems at a deeper level.

Other Tech Companies Are Already Moving in This Direction

Google is not the first company experimenting with AI-assisted hiring.

Canva and AI startup Cognition have already introduced interview formats that permit AI usage during technical assessments.

Executives at these companies argue that preventing candidates from using AI tools during interviews no longer reflects how engineering teams actually work.

Emily Cohen, head of people and operations at Cognition, recently compared banning AI during interviews to asking students to complete math tests without calculators.

The underlying idea is becoming increasingly common across Silicon Valley: the future engineer may not be the person who writes everything manually, but the person who knows how to direct AI systems effectively while maintaining quality and reliability.

Google Is Also Changing Behavioral Interviews

The AI-assisted coding round is only one part of Google’s broader hiring overhaul.

The company is also reportedly redesigning its long-standing “Googleyness and Leadership” interview round, which traditionally focused on behavioral and culture-fit questions.

Under the new structure, candidates will also discuss technical design decisions tied to past projects, combining behavioral evaluation with practical engineering conversations.

For more junior applicants, Google plans to replace one traditional technical round with open-ended engineering challenges that test broader problem-solving abilities rather than isolated coding exercises.

The pilot program will initially roll out across selected Google divisions, including Cloud and the company’s platforms and devices teams.

A Bigger Shift in How Engineering Talent Is Evaluated

Google’s experiment reflects a larger question now facing the technology industry.

If AI becomes deeply integrated into software development itself, companies may eventually stop viewing AI assistance as “cheating” and instead treat it as a normal part of professional competency.

That changes the definition of technical skill.

The focus increasingly moves away from pure code production and toward judgment, systems thinking, debugging ability, architectural understanding, and the capacity to work effectively with intelligent tools.

In many ways, Google’s pilot may represent the beginning of a much larger transition in how engineering talent is identified, tested, and hired across the industry.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Source: BI