Karat AI Interview: Is an AI Interviewing You?

Karat does not use an AI interviewer. As of September 9, 2026, every Karat format is run by a human Interview Engineer, including Karat NextGen, the product Karat launched in December 2025 as "the first human-led, AI-enabled talent evaluation solution." What NextGen changes is your side of the table: you are expected to use an AI assistant built into Karat's editor while the interviewer watches how you direct it. Searches for "Karat AI interview" usually mean one of two things, and this article answers both.

Karat has a person on the call in every format

Karat's NextGen page states: "All Karat NextGen interviews are one-on-one sessions led by expert Karat Interview Engineers." The launch announcement describes candidates who "tackle complex, multi-file projects with an integrated AI assistant while collaborating live with Karat's expert Interview Engineers," and says those interviewers "probe reasoning, trade-offs, and judgment in real time to reveal genuine engineering ability."

That is the opposite of an autonomous AI interviewer. Some platforms do run interviews with no human present; HackerRank's Chakra is one, and what the Chakra AI interviewer records shows how different that experience is. A Karat call always has an engineer asking the questions and scoring the answers.

Karat's Customer FAQ also draws a line on decisions: "our technology serves as an assistant while never allowing AI to make final hiring decisions."

What NextGen changes

The classic Karat interview is a discussion block plus live coding in Karat Studio on scripted problems. NextGen replaces the problem set with a realistic project. Karat describes the environment as a "production-grade codebase, VS Code-based IDE, and a built-in AI assistant," and says the questions are "complex, realistic scenarios designed to evaluate both higher-order engineering skills & AI proficiency."

The instruction to use the assistant is explicit: "Candidates are encouraged and often expected to use Karat's integrated AI assistant to write code, understand the codebase, and augment their overall ability." Ignoring the assistant is a choice the interviewer will notice, because using it well is part of what is scored.

What NextGen measures

Karat lists four dimensions on the NextGen page:

• Technical communication: "Articulates technical decisions and explains code clearly."
• AI proficiency: "Effectively directs, evaluates, and refines AI-generated code."
• Productivity: "Delivers working solutions efficiently within time constraints."
• Product sense: "Gathers information and translates requirements into robust solutions."

The second item is the new one. You are graded on the prompts you write, whether you catch the assistant's mistakes, and how you revise what it produces. That mirrors the broader shift described in what AI-assisted coding interviews actually grade: the transcript of your interaction with the model is evidence, not a shortcut.

External AI is still prohibited

The permission is specific to Karat's assistant. The NextGen page states that "the use of external AI tools is prohibited." Karat's Candidate Terms of Use apply across formats: you may not input content into "any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated tool" except those "expressly directed by Karat," and you "may use outside sources or the provided AI Assistant (if applicable) when and to the extent explicitly directed by your Karat interviewer."

So a NextGen session permits the built-in assistant and nothing else. A classic session may permit documentation, may permit external resources, or may permit nothing outside the editor, depending on the module. The module rules and what a violation costs are in whether you can use AI in a Karat interview.

How to tell which format you were sent

Karat does not label the invitation "NextGen" for candidates in any documentation reviewed for this article. Two signals help. If the preparation material describes a multi-file project or a VS Code-style environment with an AI assistant, expect NextGen. If it describes discussion questions followed by programming questions in Karat Studio, expect the classic format. When in doubt, ask the recruiter in writing which Karat product and module the screen uses; the recruiter chose it.

What the recording contains either way

Both formats are recorded end to end: the video call, your audio, and every keystroke in the editor, delivered to the employer with a scored report. In NextGen, your exchanges with the assistant are part of the session the interviewer observes and the employer can replay. The inventory is in what a Karat interview records, scores, and keeps.

What this means for candidates

If you were hoping for an AI interviewer you could game, Karat is not that. If you were dreading one, Karat is not that either. Prepare for a person. For NextGen, practice working in a real repository with an assistant: read the code before prompting, write specific prompts, run what the model gives you, and say aloud why you accepted or rejected a suggestion. That narration is the AI-proficiency score. For the classic format, prepare to code without a model unless the interviewer says otherwise.