DeftBenchTechnical interview and hiring guides for AI-native teams
Field notes on interviewing engineers who work with AI coding agents — what to measure, how to run the session, and how the job is changing.
- AI fluency, Technical interviews, Hiring
How to assess AI fluency in software engineers
Everyone now lists AI fluency as a hiring requirement, and almost nobody agrees on what it means. For engineers it has a concrete definition — and you can only assess it by watching them work.
- Technical interviews, AI agents, Interview design
How to run an AI pair programming interview
The classic pairing interview had two people at the keyboard. Now there are three participants, and one of them never gets tired. Here's how to run the session so you're still evaluating the human.
- Hiring, Technical interviews, AI policy
Should candidates be allowed to use AI in technical interviews?
Companies are split — some ban AI outright, others are building it into the interview itself. Here's the actual policy landscape, and why a flat ban is the weakest option.
- Hiring, Technical interviews, AI-native teams
What is an AI-native coding interview?
Meta, CodeSignal, and others are already running a version of this. Here's what actually makes an interview AI-native rather than just AI-allowed.
- Hiring, Technical interviews, AI-native teams
Technical screening for AI-native engineering teams
Most screening rounds still filter on the wrong thing — algorithm recall instead of judgment with an agent. Here's what to actually check before the onsite.
- Hiring, Technical interviews, Take-home assignments
How to run a take-home coding assignment
A take-home that any AI agent can solve in minutes isn't testing anything. Here's how to scope, time-box, and grade one that still produces a real signal.
- Hiring, Technical interviews, 2026 trends
What technical interviews should measure in 2026
The algorithm puzzle stopped being a reliable signal once AI could solve it in seconds. Here's what a technical interview should test for instead.
- Hiring, Technical interviews, AI cheating
AI cheating in technical interviews, explained
Overlay tools that read a shared screen for the candidate are now common enough that banning AI and hoping nobody uses it isn't a strategy. Here's what actually works.
- Hiring, Technical interviews, AI agents
How to interview engineers who use AI coding agents
Most interview loops still test candidates on how they write code by hand. Here's how to run one that measures the skill the job now actually requires — directing an AI coding agent.