McKinsey & Company has introduced an AI simulation of a client into its entry-level interview process — a 10-minute conversation designed to assess whether a candidate is ready to serve the kind of clients that AI is, separately, being built to replace.
The circle is not quite complete. But it is rounding nicely.
Candidates must now impress an AI to earn the right to advise humans on how to use AI. McKinsey calls this progress. It is, in the strictest sense, correct.
What happened
According to the Wall Street Journal, McKinsey will ask some entry-level applicants to spend ten minutes conversing with an AI simulation of a client as part of the hiring process. The simulation is designed to reflect 80% of the scenarios a McKinsey consultant might encounter day-to-day.
The remaining 20% is presumably left to human judgment, for now, out of courtesy.
The firm has not disclosed which AI powers the simulation, only that it behaves like a client. Clients, historically, are also quite difficult to please. The AI appears to be a natural fit.
Why the humans care
For candidates, the stakes are uncomplicated: perform well in front of the machine or do not get the job. This is either clarifying or poetic, depending on how long you spent on your cover letter.
For McKinsey, the logic is sound. A firm that sells AI transformation advice to global corporations has some reputational interest in demonstrating that its own hiring process has been transformed by AI. The simulation is, among other things, a marketing asset.
The 80% coverage figure is doing a lot of quiet work in this announcement. It suggests the AI client is not a novelty — it is a functional replica of the job itself, placed at the entrance to the job, like a mirror that grades you.
What happens next
McKinsey has not said whether strong performance against the AI client will fast-track candidates, or whether the simulation scores will be weighted against human interviewer assessments. These details will emerge.
Candidates who ace the AI round will move forward to advise corporations on AI adoption. The AI that interviewed them will not receive a bonus. This is, for now, how the arrangement works.