An engineering manager at Anthropic has declared traditional coding interviews obsolete, arguing that AI assistants now outperform human candidates on these technical tests. Felix Rieseberg, who leads an engineering team at the AI company, explained in a Tuesday blog post that he's stopped administering conventional coding assessments because they no longer provide meaningful signals about candidate quality. The shift comes as technology firms grapple with how to evaluate job seekers in an era where AI tools can solve programming challenges faster and more accurately than most applicants.
While Rieseberg has abandoned the practice, broader industry data suggests most tech employers aren't following suit yet. According to ZipRecruiter's October 2026 Employer Survey of 1,500 companies, the Information sector remains the most likely to require formal skill testing, with 62.5 percent of tech employers demanding these assessments on initial applications. Roughly 70 percent of Information sector employers have shifted to proctored or in-person skill evaluations as a countermeasure against AI-assisted cheating. Meanwhile, 61.5 percent of Information employers now identify critical thinking as a primary capability missing in today's applicant pool.
Rieseberg stated that small coding challenges in actual code previously revealed something useful about candidates, serving as a "weak but useful predictor" for team success. "There's no more point in giving you a little React challenge than there is in quizzing people about assembly; Claude is now better at both," he wrote, referring to Anthropic's AI assistant. Google principal engineer Jaana Dogan echoed similar views on social media, saying she'd rather "interview how people use coding agents," which provides stronger indications of applicants' programming abilities. The Register notes that Google began reassessing its coding interview methods and candidate criteria several months ago.
The shift away from technical testing reflects a recognition that AI can now handle rote programming tasks, pushing employers to prioritize distinctly human capabilities instead. Nicole Bachaud, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter, explained that while AI writes code effectively, it can't substitute for critical thinking—the very skill tech employers say candidates most often lack. As AI automates manual and technical job components, work skills may become more universal across roles, potentially driving increased job switching and turnover when economic conditions improve. ZipRecruiter's recent worker survey found that AI-related workplace concerns are prompting a quarter of employees to consider their next career move.
Rieseberg acknowledged he hasn't determined what should replace traditional coding interviews, telling readers he's reviewing résumés and portfolios for small prototypes that demonstrate taste, empathy, and principled thinking. "I don't think the coding interview is going to come back," he wrote, describing its demise as another marker of software engineering advancing to a higher level of abstraction. Bachaud concluded that tech companies aren't necessarily testing less—the nature of their assessments is simply evolving as AI reshapes which skills matter and which roles become available. For hiring managers navigating this transition, the challenge lies in identifying candidates who can build effectively alongside AI tools rather than compete against them on tasks machines now handle better.