Karat NextGen
Build a high-quality,
AI-ready workforce
70% of engineering executives plan to expand their AI capabilities through strategic hiring, yet fewer than 30% are investing in the systems required to reliably identify AI-ready talent. Karat NextGen is the first human-led, AI-enabled evaluation solution built to close that gap.
"Real breakthroughs happen when human judgment and AI capabilities work together. What’s been missing is a way to measure that combination reliably. A human-led, AI-native interview is exactly the kind of solution organizations need to understand who can truly excel in this new model of development.”
Why NextGen
A complete solution for identifying AI-ready engineers
NextGen delivers reliable signal by recreating how engineers actually work, turning every interview into a hands-on session where expert interviewers engage with candidates and uncover the skills that matter most.
Real-World Dev Environment
Assess modern skills with modern tools: production-grade codebase, VS Code-based IDE, and a built-in AI assistant.
Karat's Expert, Certified Interviewers
Every session led by an experienced engineer certified to evaluate AI-enabled development and unlock quality signal.
Elevated, Project-Based Questions
Complex, realistic scenarios designed to evaluate both higher-order engineering skills & AI proficiency.
Redesigned Rubric for AI-Era Talent
Measure the skills that define success in an AI-enabled world, with objective data you can trust and benchmark.
Skill insights
Measure
modern skills
Evaluate the skills that drive performance in an AI-enabled world
Technical Communication
Articulates technical decisions and explains code clearly
AI Proficiency
Effectively directs, evaluates, and refines AI-generated code
Productivity
Delivers working solutions efficiently within time constraints
Product Sense
Gathers information and translates requirements into robust solutions
NextGen is built to evolve
Keep pace with AI
As AI advances, NextGen will evolve alongside it, keeping your talent evaluation processes aligned with the latest technologies and trends.
Your R&D Partner
We handle the research, tooling, and AI expertise so your team can stay focused on building great products.
Talent intelligence
Break out of your data silo
Make your most critical workforce decisions with insights from the industry’s most trusted, cross-company talent dataset.
Establish a Data-Driven Bar
Set consistent technical standards calibrated to industry benchmarks and role expectations
Identify Top Talent
Focus on engineers who truly stand apart by comparing performance within your pipeline and across the broader market
Benchmark Your Organization
See how your talent compares to the market across industries, job families, and locations
Chart Your Talent Strategy
Use market insights to build a roadmap for raising your organization's talent quality
"To ride this wave of AI momentum, organizations must continually re-evaluate how they empower great people with the latest models, and design their software, workflows, tools, and hiring practices to let humans and AI multiply each other’s impact."
Future-Proof Your Entire Workforce
Assess AI readiness, inform critical decisions, and guide strategic investments across all types of talent.
Ensure quality & readiness of incoming talent
Maximize impact from your contractor workforce
Map AI capabilities & investment opportunities
Frequently asked questions
All Karat NextGen interviews are one-on-one sessions led by expert Karat Interview Engineers. Karat’s global network of Interview Engineers (or IVEs) is comprised of experienced software engineers who have been carefully selected and certified to deliver high-quality technical interviews for AI-enabled engineering roles.
Yes. Candidates are encouraged and often expected to use Karat’s integrated AI assistant to write code, understand the codebase, and augment their overall ability. The interview experience is intentionally designed to support AI use and evaluate AI-enabled engineering skills. Please note that the use of external AI tools is prohibited.
AI proficiency is part of what we evaluate, but Karat NextGen is far more comprehensive than a traditional AI skills test. It’s a holistic evaluation of real-world engineering, assessing problem-solving, technical communication, systems thinking, and how candidates leverage AI as part of their broader engineering toolkit.
Resources
Featured Human + AI insights
Reports
AI is rewriting the rules of engineering productivity and the gap between top performers and everyone else is widening fast. In Karat’s upcoming 2025 AI Workforce Transformation Report, 400 senior engineering leaders reveal how AI is reshaping hiring, readiness, and global competitiveness.
Blog
While interviewing in the age of AI has been a hot topic since the first iteration of ChatGPT, Amazon’s recent crackdown on candidates using AI in interviews has brought the long-simmering topic to the forefront. The use of AI in interviews has come up in almost all of our executive briefings this year. Increasingly, the […]
Webinars
As tech hiring recovers from its two-year slowdown, the talent landscape has shifted significantly. New developments in AI are changing the way organizations hire. New roles and geographies are emerging as top priorities. And engineering leaders are laser focused on the quality of every new hire, even as hiring targets bounce back from their 2023-lows. […]