According to internal memos reported by Wired and Business Insider, Meta is testing a new interview format that invites select candidates to solve programming challenges with AI tools, exactly as they would on the job. Meta engineers are running mock interviews to evaluate how this changes both candidate performance and interviewer assessment. The logic is bulletproof: if your developers use AI tools every single day at work, why are you pretending these tools don't exist during hiring?
Most tech companies still ban AI during technical interviews. Amazon, Google, and Apple all want candidates to code like it's 1999. The fear is that AI creates an "unfair advantage." Meta is asking a better question: unfair compared to what? It simply doesn't make sense to evaluate developers on skills they'll never use while ignoring the skills they'll use every day.
Meta's approach shifts the evaluation from "Can you memorize syntax?" to "Can you leverage AI to solve complex problems faster and better?" Those are fundamentally different competencies – and only one of them matters.
If you're still hiring based on pre-AI assumptions, you're optimizing for the wrong century. Here's what needs to change immediately:
Redefine technical competency. Stop measuring memorization. Start measuring AI collaboration, prompt engineering, and the ability to debug and optimize AI-generated code.
Train your interviewers. They need to evaluate how candidates work with AI, not just what they produce. Can they identify when AI makes mistakes? Do they know how to iterate on prompts? Can they integrate AI output with human insight?
Update your job descriptions. If "cross-functional collaboration" is a requirement, "human-AI collaboration" should be, too.
Innovating HR workflows and processes is a leadership challenge, not a technical one. Unsurprisingly, Zuck is ahead of the pack. From my POV, he has it exactly right.
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. -s
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
