Key Insights:
- McKinsey Is Piloting an AI Client: Some undergraduate business analyst candidates in North American offices will have a roughly 10-minute conversation with an AI avatar of a client this fall.
- Humans Stay in the Room: Partners or interview assessors observe the conversation, and the AI gives no scoring or assessment of its own. McKinsey says its human assessors 'always remain the sole evaluators.'
- It Reflects Everyday Client Situations: McKinsey says the avatar covers about 80% of what consultants meet day to day, and and it isn’t designed to mimic tension or ask gotcha questions.
- The Test Is How You Respond: A McKinsey partner says he watches whether candidates hear what matters, act on it, or steamroll ahead with their own agenda.
- The Scope Could Grow: Hundreds of candidates are likely to take part, and McKinsey expects to use the format for other roles next year if the pilot works.
McKinsey is testing a roughly 10-minute conversation with an AI client avatar for some undergraduate business analyst candidates this fall, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Partners or interview assessors observe in the room, and the AI gives no score of its own. Hundreds of candidates are likely to take part, and McKinsey expects to use the format for other roles next year if the pilot works.
McKinsey’s press team responded to our questions. Their comments are included below.
What is the McKinsey AI avatar interview?
It's a simulated client conversation. Candidates talk with the avatar on a laptop, in a McKinsey office, after the case interview. McKinsey is piloting it with undergraduates applying for business analyst jobs in some North American offices.
"The avatar isn’t designed to mimic tension or ask gotcha questions.
How does the McKinsey AI avatar interview work?
The avatar plays a client, and it's been trained on different client personalities, including a professorial one who wants to understand McKinsey's recommendations. McKinsey shared this hypothetical: a national coffee chain hires McKinsey to help it expand into ready-to-drink beverages sold in supermarkets. The avatar plays the Director of Business Development, who may have unexpected information the candidate didn’t consider in their initial hypothesis.
The avatar isn’t designed to mimic tension or ask gotcha questions. Saleem Zafar, a McKinsey partner in Dallas who helped design the pilot, says it reflects about 80% of the situations consultants meet day to day. According to McKinsey, the assessor also debriefs with the candidate afterward, as a real team would.
What is McKinsey looking for?
Zafar says he watches whether candidates heard what mattered and acted on it, or steamrolled ahead with their own agenda. He puts it this way: "how do you respond to changing stimuli?"
Blair Ciesil, a McKinsey partner who co-leads global talent attraction, says the format reads human qualities without relying on preparation, since rehearsed stories can make it hard for interviewers to see the person underneath. McKinsey partners also say the avatar adds fairness, because some human interviewers play tougher clients than others.
How does it fit with McKinsey's other AI interview formats?
The avatar pilot is a distinct format from the AI-assisted case interview MC has covered. In our conversation with Simone Jacobi, McKinsey’s Director of Talent Assessment, she described candidates using an AI tool partway through a case. In that format, AI is a tool the candidate uses; in the avatar pilot, AI plays the client the candidate speaks with.
We are excited to use AI in our in-person interview process in a couple key ways. One is allowing candidates to use AI as they work through a problem-solving case with their assessor. This helps the assessor understand how candidates exercise judgment, and how they interpret, challenge and build on new information in dynamic environments like our team rooms.
The other is using AI to simulate a live client conversation with the candidate that reflects typical human interactions our consultants face. AI allows for a consistent client persona so that our in-room assessor can focus entirely on evaluating how the candidate listens, responds and builds trust – including debriefing with them afterward just as a real team would do in our apprenticeship-led model. Across both of these interview tools, our human assessors always remain the sole evaluators.
– Blair Ciesil, partner and global talent attraction co-leader, McKinsey
McKinsey has also piloted Lilli, its internal AI platform, in select final rounds. Separately, the firm ran a simulated client conversation pilot earlier this year. McKinsey clarified that a human played the client in that pilot, instead of an avatar.
"Zafar says he watches whether candidates heard what mattered and acted on it, or steamrolled ahead with their own agenda.
What does it mean for candidates?
McKinsey candidates may encounter an AI-related interview format, depending on their role and office. McKinsey says it is using AI in its in-person interviews in two ways: candidates use AI as they work through a case, and the avatar simulates a live client conversation. These pilots do not establish that every candidate will encounter an AI interview.
If you’re applying for a business analyst role in North America this fall, the avatar conversation could be part of your process. McKinsey says candidates who will take it are notified in advance, and that no preparation is needed, since the goal is to see how candidates interact with clients in a real-time conversation. Treat it like a live client meeting: listen for the detail the client adds mid-answer, say back what you heard, and work it into your recommendation instead of pushing through your prepared points.
For experienced hires and MBA candidates, a broader rollout remains uncertain. McKinsey expects to use the format for other roles next year if the pilot works, but that does not confirm whether or when these candidates would encounter it. Building the same listening and communication habits is useful preparation regardless of the format.
What we don't know yet: how much the avatar conversation counts toward hiring decisions or how results compare with candidates who don’t see it. McKinsey’s response also didn’t say which offices and candidate populations are participating, or how the pilot might expand.
Conclusion
The avatar interview is still a pilot, but McKinsey is testing AI across its process, and the skills it assesses – listening closely, adapting to what a client says, and communicating a clear recommendation – apply in every format.
If McKinsey is on your list this fall, start with Black Belt, which includes coaching on every step of the interview process, plus guides and roadmaps for preparing for AI interviews.
McKinsey AI avatar interview FAQs
It's a roughly 10-minute conversation with an AI simulation of a client, which McKinsey is piloting this fall with some undergraduate business analyst candidates in North American offices. Partners or interview assessors observe the conversation.
According to the WSJ, undergraduates applying for business analyst jobs in some North American offices. Hundreds of candidates are likely to take part, and McKinsey expects to use it for other roles next year if the pilot succeeds. A rollout to MBA or experienced hire candidates has not been confirmed in the reporting covered here.
McKinsey says no. Candidates who will take it are notified in advance, and McKinsey says no preparation is needed because the interview is meant to show how candidates interact with clients in a real-time conversation.
No. McKinsey partners say the avatar provides no scoring or assessment of its own, and McKinsey says its human assessors ‘always remain the sole evaluators.’ The in-room assessor observes the conversation and debriefs with the candidate afterward.
It comes after the case interview. Candidates chat with the avatar on a laptop in a McKinsey office, for about 10 minutes.
It's a different format. In the AI-assisted case interview Simone Jacobi described to MC, candidates use an AI tool partway through a case. In the avatar interview, the AI plays the client. McKinsey has also piloted Lilli, its internal AI platform, in select final rounds. These are distinct uses of AI and do not mean every candidate will encounter the same format.