Key Insights
- This page tracks six new or AI-driven interview formats at McKinsey, Bain, and BCG. Each one has a status label and a link to our full guide.
- McKinsey has the most formats in play. Its AI case interview is confirmed at some offices, and it’s piloting an AI client avatar and a client conversation interview.
- Bain’s AI interview is the immersive case. Candidates get 40 minutes with ChatGPT, Excel, and PowerPoint, then present and defend a recommendation.
- Every format still tests the same core skills. Structure, math, judgment, and a clear recommendation. AI changes how those skills show up, and the bar stays where it was.
Consulting firms are changing their interviews faster than most candidates can keep up. In the last year, McKinsey, Bain, and BCG have all started putting AI into their interviews, and McKinsey is testing more new formats on top of that.
We broke the first of these stories in December 2025, and we’ve tracked every format since. This page is the running list. We update it every time we confirm something new.
Each format gets one of three status labels:
- Confirmed by the firm: the firm has described the format publicly or to us directly.
- Reported by candidates: candidates in our community have gone through it or been told to expect it, and the firm hasn’t described it publicly.
- Announced, not yet seen: the firm has said it’s coming, and we haven’t heard from a candidate who has seen it.
AI interview tracker: McKinsey, Bain, and BCG
McKinsey
AI case interview
Status
Confirmed by the firm
Who gets it
Candidates at some offices, more often in Europe. Your recruiter tells you when to expect it.
What you do
Work a case with ChatGPT for part of the interview. It can replace one of your regular cases.
Full guide
McKinsey
AI client avatar
Status
Confirmed by the firm (pilot)
Who gets it
Some business analyst candidates in North America
What you do
Talk with an AI-generated client for about 10 minutes while interviewers watch
Full guide
McKinsey
Client conversation interview
Status
Confirmed by the firm (non-evaluative pilot)
Who gets it
Select final-round candidates
What you do
A 20-minute discussion with a fictional client after a full case, in place of the PEI
Full guide
Bain
Immersive case
Status
Reported by candidates
Who gets it
Experienced hire final rounds. MBA candidates at several top business schools have been told to expect it.
What you do
40 minutes with ChatGPT, Excel, and PowerPoint, then a 10-minute presentation and 30-minute discussion
Full guide
BCG
Casey online case
Status
Confirmed by the firm
Who gets it
Undergrad, MBA, PhD, and experienced hire candidates, as a first-round screen. Rollout varies by office.
What you do
Work through chatbot-led cases, record a short video recommendation, and take an online test
Full guide
BCG
AI-assisted case interview
Status
Confirmed by the firm (pilot)
Who gets it
Candidates at a select set of offices
What you do
Work a live case with access to an AI chatbot
Full guide
Coming soon
Does McKinsey use AI in interviews?
Yes. McKinsey uses AI in case interviews at some of its offices, and it’s piloting at least two more new formats.
McKinsey AI case interview
We first reported McKinsey’s AI interview on December 11, 2025, when it was a pilot in U.S. final rounds. In that early pilot, candidates worked with Lilli, McKinsey’s internal AI platform. By July 2026, McKinsey described candidates using the free version of ChatGPT instead.
In July 2026, McKinsey described the format to us directly. Simone Jacobi, McKinsey’s Director of Talent Assessment, told us the AI interview is used at some offices, and it’s just as important as every other McKinsey interview. Most interviews start without AI, the interviewer brings in the AI tool partway through, and the last part is AI-free again.
Marie Christine Padberg, McKinsey’s Global Leader for Talent Attraction, said in September 2026 that the format is more likely in European offices. Where McKinsey uses it, it typically replaces one of your regular case interviews and counts toward whether you advance.
Jacobi told us McKinsey doesn’t test prompt writing, since it can teach that on the job. The firm cares more about how well you question what the AI gives you than how much you use it. Our McKinsey Lilli interview guide covers how to prepare.
McKinsey AI avatar interview
In October 2026, McKinsey confirmed it’s piloting an AI-generated client in some business analyst interviews in North America this fall, covering hundreds of candidates. It’s McKinsey’s newest format. You talk with the avatar for about 10 minutes while partners or assessors watch how you listen, handle the client’s concerns, and adjust when new information comes up. The avatar doesn’t score you. The people watching do. Read what we know about the AI avatar interview.
McKinsey client conversation interview
McKinsey is also piloting a client conversation interview with select final-round candidates. After a full case, you spend 20 minutes in a discussion with a fictional client, in place of the PEI portion of that interview. McKinsey says the pilot is non-evaluative and won’t affect hiring decisions. Read our full breakdown of the client conversation pilot.
Does Bain use AI in interviews?
Yes. Bain’s AI interview is called the immersive case, and candidates in our community started reporting it in final rounds this fall.
You get 40 minutes to answer a client’s key questions using provided files, Excel, PowerPoint, and ChatGPT. Then you present your recommendation for 10 minutes and discuss it with your interviewer for 30. Experienced hire candidates have taken it alongside a regular case and a behavioral interview, and MBA candidates at several top business schools have been told to expect it.
Bain’s global head of recruiting, Ron Kermisch, said in April 2026 that Bain might also look at how candidates use AI to prepare. We haven’t heard from a candidate who has seen that, so it stays on this page as announced, not yet seen. Our Bain AI interview guide has the full format and a prep plan.
Does BCG use AI in interviews?
Yes, in pilot form. Adele Lomax, BCG’s Global Recruiting Executive Director, said in September 2026 that BCG is piloting live case interviews where candidates get access to an AI chatbot, in a select set of offices. BCG hasn’t settled on one worldwide approach yet, and it treats AI performance as one input among many.
BCG’s more established digital format is Casey, a chatbot-led online case that many candidates now take as a first-round screen.
In Casey, you work through chatbot-led business cases, record a short video recommendation for each, and take an online test with quantitative, logic, and data questions. Read our BCG online case guide for the full format.
AI interview news log
New intel goes here first, newest at the top.
- November 2026: Experienced hire candidates report Bain’s immersive case in final rounds. MBA candidates at several top business schools are told to expect it.
- October 2026: McKinsey confirms an AI client avatar pilot in some North American business analyst interviews.
- September 2026: McKinsey and BCG recruiting leaders describe AI-assisted case interviews. BCG confirms pilots in a select set of offices.
- July 2026: McKinsey’s Director of Talent Assessment tells MC the AI case interview is used at some offices, counts as much as any other interview, and gives candidates the free version of ChatGPT.
- April 2026: McKinsey launches a free AI tool candidates can use to practice its case study.
- April 2026: Bain’s global head of recruiting says AI will become part of Bain’s interviews starting in summer 2026.
- January 2026: National press reports McKinsey piloting Lilli in final rounds for business school candidates.
- December 11, 2025: MC first reports McKinsey’s AI interview pilot in U.S. final rounds.
Seen a new format?
Tell us what you saw in your interview
Most of what’s on this page started with a candidate email. If McKinsey, Bain, or BCG put you through something new, send us the firm, the round, and what you were asked to do.
Email [email protected]How to prepare for an AI case interview
Every format on this page still tests the skills a regular case interview tests: structure, math, judgment, and a clear recommendation. AI changes how those skills show up, and the bar stays the same.
Three habits carry across every firm:
- Practice cases with AI open. Use ChatGPT on real case data so the tool feels normal before your interview.
- Check everything the tool gives you. AI misreads files and gets math wrong. Interviewers notice when you catch it, and when you don’t.
- Keep your own answer. Every format ends with you explaining a recommendation and defending it. The tool can help you get there faster, and the recommendation still has to be yours.
Each firm’s format rewards different practice, so start with the guide for the firm you’re interviewing with.
Black Belt
Prep for the format your firm is actually running
Black Belt pairs you with an MBB coach who knows what McKinsey, Bain, and BCG are testing right now. You also get the AI Interview Prompt Playbook and an AI case coach to practice with between sessions.
See how Black Belt worksThe bottom line
All three MBB firms now put AI in front of at least some candidates, and McKinsey is testing new formats every few months. Expect this list to grow.
Bookmark this page, check it before every interview round, and if you’re targeting MBB this cycle, get prep that keeps up with it.
AI case interview: frequently asked questions
Yes. McKinsey uses an AI case interview at some offices, where candidates work with ChatGPT for part of the case. Bain runs an AI interview called the immersive case, where candidates use ChatGPT, Excel, and PowerPoint. BCG is piloting live cases with an AI chatbot in select offices.
Yes. McKinsey uses an AI case interview at some offices, and recruiters tell candidates when to expect it. McKinsey has said it counts as much as every other McKinsey interview. McKinsey is also piloting an AI client avatar in some entry-level interviews.
Bain’s AI interview is the immersive case. Candidates get 40 minutes to answer a client’s key questions using provided files, Excel, PowerPoint, and ChatGPT, then present for 10 minutes and discuss their recommendation for 30.
Yes, in pilot form. BCG is piloting live case interviews where candidates get access to an AI chatbot in a select set of offices. BCG also uses Casey, a chatbot-led online case, as a first-round screen for many candidates.
Practice cases with an AI tool like ChatGPT open, check every number and claim the tool gives you, and practice explaining and defending your own recommendation. Core case skills still decide the outcome: structure, math, judgment, and clear communication.