Some North America business-analyst applicants will hold a 10-minute talk with a simulated client this fall.

McKinsey & Company will ask some entry-level candidates to spend 10 minutes talking with an AI simulation of a client during interviews, according to The Wall Street Journal. The firm plans to test the tool this fall with undergraduates who apply for business-analyst roles in some North American offices, and hundreds of candidates may take part.

The simulation aims to reflect most of the scenarios that McKinsey consultants encounter in daily work, and it is not built to mimic an unhinged client. The firm will not let the AI score candidates. Humans will sit in the room to assess how well applicants handle the simulated situations. Other companies are also building tools that use AI avatars in job interviews.

Teams that build hiring tools should note the split: McKinsey uses AI to run the scenario but keeps humans on the evaluation. That division matters for anyone selling AI interview products, since scoring and assessment invite scrutiny over bias, consistency, and candidate experience. Vendors that separate simulation from scoring will find an easier case to make to enterprise buyers.

McKinsey will run the simulation in testing mode for some North American offices this fall, so results from those interviews will shape whether the format expands. Recruiters and rival consulting firms will watch how candidates perform under a synthetic client, and whether the approach spreads to other entry-level roles.

What matters

• McKinsey will test the AI client simulation with some undergraduates in certain North American offices.
• The tool signals that firms now test how candidates handle ambiguous, open-ended client problems.
• Humans will score candidates in the room, so watch whether other firms adopt simulated clients.

Why it matters

Humans will score candidates in the room, so watch whether other firms adopt simulated clients.

This GenAI News article was prepared in original wording using reporting and materials published by The Verge. Source reference: https://www.theverge.com/news/1011654/mckinsey-ai-client-interview.

Drafted by the GenAI News review pipeline.