Business questions engineers need to ask when interviewing at ML/AI companies

Engineers are accustomed to sitting for interviews in a variety of domains. From technical and non-technical to creative fields, they’ve explored them all. But when the companies concerned are based on grounds of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML), few important things come into the frame. While interviewing at ML/AI companies, it is essential to make sure that the company’s line of work matches your preference. Not only should you make things clear before you join the firm, but also dive deep into the crucial details of the company which they otherwise would not share. 

To give you a better idea, we have prepared a checklist of questions you can ask during your interview. Take a quick glimpse to know the requisites before you actually sit in front of the interviewer.

1. What approach was used before AI came into the picture?

Asking this question will give you a rough idea of whether or not their pre-AI manual was good enough. They might answer stating that they are planning to replace humans entirely. But this is an ambiguous answer and definitely not the one you’re looking for. Where having humans in your team is the most feasible and affordable option, they are also more desirable. What, however, you’re looking for is how their product has brought a change in the market, which earlier couldn’t have been possible. You need them to explain how their product is better and cheaper than all the other options available. 

2. How does your company make money?

A trick question, you should be on the lookout for answers which comprise of multistage rockets while interviewing at ML/AI companies. In short, the interviewer must have plenty of options to generate revenues from. Answers revolving around merely one are bound to be superficial and might even lead to the decline of the firm’s business. They might try to wind you in a loop of their grand plan B which they’ll work on, once A succeeds. Such plans are the ones which most likely fail. Avoid falling into such traps. 

3. How many customers have you contacted? Did you get any insight from them?

Most founders talk to users to figure out what the general demand is and how their product benefits the market. But did they connect with enough users to identify the underlying issues is the main question. Often, founders get convinced about the relevance of their product after contacting merely a few customers. But the ones who actually succeed, talk endlessly to their customers, discerning the crucial areas where their users encounter problems. This is essential to build a reliable product and to identify the precision required for the launch of the same. 

4. How is the company supposed to grow over time? What plans do you have to spread the word about the company?

One answer which should make you walk out of the room immediately after is: “word of mouth”. Every company looks forward to having the x-factor which not only makes them different but also makes them popular among the general public. Where word of mouth does work in some cases, what you should look towards ideally is a company which either creates an incredible, out of the world product or uses paid marketing. A really good answer that you’ll come across will cover aspects including the cost to acquire a customer. In addition, it will include his/her life-time value as well as the channels they use for marketing. 

5. How will defend your business? (What’s defensive about your business?)

The answer “algorithm” will give you an idea about how very naive the company is. Where a company runs primarily on software, algorithms rarely prove to be reliable sources which add value. Google founders had initially devised PageRank as a part of their research project. Even though this is the very first algorithm used by the company which made Google popular, it stayed on the top since then because of its network effects.  

There are many other factors which must be taken into consideration. The people you’ll be working with, commute, the technologies you’ll get to lay hand on, etc., are some others which have equal importance. Asking relevant questions while interviewing at ML/AI companies, not only gives you an upper hand amongst the other candidates but also gives you a better, more vivid picture of the company. 

Now that we have the solution for your dilemma, get ready to nail the next interview you sit for. All the best!