What’s changing isn’t just the format of interviews, it’s what they’re trying to measure.

With AI tools handling a lot of the syntax and boilerplate, the signal is shifting toward how candidates think under ambiguity. It’s less about “can you write this query” and more about “do you understand what needs to be asked in the first place.”

In practice, I’m seeing three subtle shifts:

• Questions are becoming more open-ended, closer to real business problems

• Evaluation is moving toward reasoning, trade-offs, and assumptions

• Communication is carrying more weight than pure technical speed

The interesting part is that AI hasn’t reduced the bar, it’s raised it in a different direction.

The candidates who stand out aren’t the ones who know the most tools, but the ones who can structure problems clearly, question data, and connect their thinking to decisions.