HackerRank, a platform for assessing and hiring developers, has launched Chakra, an AI agent designed to conduct job interviews. The tool, which observes candidates and evaluates their answers and problem-solving processes, became generally available to customers on Monday after approximately six months in beta.
During its testing phase, Chakra completed over 500,000 interviews. Snowflake, Snorkel, and Capgemini were among the companies that trialled the AI interviewer, alongside HackerRank's internal testing.
HackerRank co-founder and CEO Vivek Ravisankar stated that Chakra aims to assess critical thinking, judgment, and "AI fluency" in candidates. He also noted that suspicious activity flags were 70% to 80% lower in Chakra interviews compared to traditional HackerRank assessments, attributing this to candidates having access to AI during the interview process.
Ravisankar explained that Chakra is designed to score candidates, with humans retaining the final hiring decision. He suggested that AI can handle structured parts of an interview by consistently applying employer-set criteria, potentially reducing bias if tuned correctly, while human interviewers focus on other aspects.