NewsAIMcKinsey is making job applicants spar with a fake AI clientSome entry-level McKinsey candidates will have a 10-minute conversation with a simulated client as part of the interview process.Some entry-level McKinsey candidates will have a 10-minute conversation with a simulated client as part of the interview process.by Jay PetersOct 14, 2026, 10:53 PM UTCShareGiftImage: The VergeJay Peters is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.Consulting firm McKinsey & Company is going to ask some entry-level candidates to have a 10-minute conversation with an AI simulation of a client as part of the interview process, according to The Wall Street Journal.The AI simulation “aims to reflect 80% of the scenarios McKinsey consultants might encounter in their day-to-day work,” the WSJ says, and it isn’t designed to “mimic an unhinged client.” The AI won’t score the candidates — humans will be in the room to assess the candidates and see how well they deal with the simulated situations.The McKinsey tool will be in testing for undergrads seeking business-analyst jobs in “some” offices in North America this fall, and the WSJ says “hundreds” may use it.Other companies are also building tools to use AI avatars as part of the job interview process, and my colleague Hayden Field tried some of them out for a video we published in March.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Jay PetersAINewsMost PopularThe Tesla Roadster could have stayed vaporwareI tried out Apple’s HomeView smart displayHoney, Xbox shrunk its controllerThe Ocarina of Time remake feels remarkably modern — and surprisingly terrifyingThe Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is almost the Android tablet we neededAdvertiser Content FromThis is the title for the native ad
