Karat blog

For the last two years, the narrative around software engineering talent was simple: talent was dispersing. Remote work, lower costs, and distributed teams were expected to flatten the global talent map. Companies (and top talent) were fleeing the coastal tech hubs in search of something different. Karat’s 2026 Top Cities data shows a different reality. […]

Artificial intelligence is reshaping not only how software is built, but how engineering excellence compounds into competitive advantage. Karat’s latest research shows that AI disproportionately amplifies the productivity and impact of top-performing engineers. Elite talent uses AI to accelerate development cycles, solve more complex technical challenges, and drive innovation at scale. As a result, performance […]

A Practical Guide for Training Interviewers in the Human + AI Era AI use in technical interviews can be detected by observing candidate behavior, coding patterns, and reasoning during live interviews. Common signals include continuous screen switching, instant fully formed solutions, inconsistent explanations, and pasted code blocks.The most reliable approach is training interviewers to evaluate […]

AI has raised the stakes on every engineering hire. Most evaluation processes weren’t built for that. Here’s how the best engineering organizations are closing the gap. For most of the last decade, growing engineering capacity meant growing headcount. You hired aggressively, accepted some variance in quality, and assumed that volume and velocity would carry teams […]

AI-driven legacy modernization is quickly becoming a priority for financial services CIOs, but contractor governance frameworks have not kept pace. This week, two announcements signaled a structural shift for financial services technology leaders. Anthropic released a COBOL modernization playbook to accelerate mainframe transformation. At the same time, OpenAI unveiled its Frontier Alliances program with global […]

Same-day technical interviews are transforming how software teams compete for top engineering talent. By enabling candidates to schedule and complete interviews within hours of receiving an invite, companies dramatically improve time-to-hire, offer acceptance rates, and candidate experience. Learn how Karat's global network of trained Interview Engineers delivers scalable, 24/7 interview coverage—and why this operational edge is critical in the race for AI and software engineering talent.

For modern CTOs and senior engineering executives, the mandate for Global Capability Centers (GCCs) has shifted. As noted in EY’s analysis of the sector, GCCs are no longer just cost-arbitrage plays; they are evolving into “AI-native enterprises” that lead global innovation. However, the transition from a skeletal satellite office to a high-performing innovation hub is […]

For most financial services organizations, software contractors aren’t optional. Whether it’s modernizing core systems, accelerating digital initiatives, or scaling delivery capacity, CIOs rely on IT Service Providers (ITSPs) to keep projects moving. But as many leaders have learned the hard way, contractor quality often fails to meet expectations. Last summer, Karat launched the first Partner […]

AI is changing technical hiring by accelerating every stage of the funnel and making it harder to identify genuine software engineering skills from AI-assisted output. Candidates can now easily produce polished resumes and correct interview answers, even if they lack the necessary skills or knowledge. This degrades hiring signals and is forcing companies to rethink […]