Michael Guan, the co-founder and CEO of Final Round AI, wants me to use AI to help you get through that job interview. He doesn't see it as cheating, but rather as using technology to your advantage.
Final Round AI is a startup that's building AI-powered tools to assist job seekers. They have an AI resume builder, a cover letter writing service, and a mock interview tool. But their most controversial offering is Copilot - an app that listens in on real job interviews and quietly feeds the interviewee answers they can read out loud.
"It can prompt the candidates with the right thing to say at the right time," Guan told me. "Like a magical teleprompter, using AI."
The use of AI in recruiting is becoming more widespread. There are now AI-generated messages to reach out to potential candidates, AI tools for identifying diverse talent, and even entire job interviews conducted by AI systems. Candidates are also embracing the technology to get an edge, using a variety of tools to provide word-perfect answers, often without the interviewer's knowledge.
Some people have built basic, homemade tools and released them for free online. Others have co-opted legitimate companies' software, like the transcription app Otter.ai. And then there are startups like Final Round, which are seeking mainstream legitimacy as they aim to transform the hiring process.
There's debate in Silicon Valley about the appropriateness of candidates using AI in job interviews. Some see it as the inevitable future, while others believe it undermines the entire purpose of the recruitment process.
Guan doesn't see the issue. "If they can use AI to crush an interview, they can for sure continue using AI to become the top performer in their daily jobs," he said.
The use of "proxy interview" services, where paid helpers secretly support candidates during interviews, is also evolving with the help of AI. Services are now embracing tools like Otter.ai to feed candidates answers in real-time.
But AI is also cutting out the proxy middle-man entirely. There are barebones tools like "tech-int-cheat" that use ChatGPT to generate answers, and more professional outfits like AiApply, which is building a range of AI-powered tools for job seekers.
Guan believes the interview process is broken, and Final Round's Copilot is willing to cross the line to help candidates, even with technical questions. The startup was recently accepted into a prestigious accelerator program in San Francisco.
I visited Guan and cofounder-slash-CTO Jay Ma at HF0's San Francisco base, a $12.7 million mansion a stone's throw from the iconic "Painted Ladies." After a tour of the amenities — a mini-sauna, a coffee bar, a basement gym, a cold-plunge pool — we sat in the dining hall, and I asked the obvious question: Is this just cheating?
"When you use AI to write emails, do you consider that as cheating?" Guan asked. "When you use AI to do homework, do you consider that as cheating?" ("That's a controversial question," I noted.)
He argued that the way candidates are assessed and hired is fundamentally broken. Guan argued that using AI during a job interview isn't underhanded; it shows the worker's ingenuity.
"AI is challenging all of our norms," he said. "I grew up in China, and before university, no one was allowed to use calculators on campus. But when I visit the US, I find out my US friends have been using calculators since kindergarten. Is it considered as cheating? No, it's just a different perception towards tools."
He added that AI usage is inevitable, an "industry revolution," so companies should embrace it.
Should candidates disclose using Final Round's tools?
"That's their responsibility," Guan said. "If they want to disclose yes, why not? Yeah. We are here to just provide you with a product."
A Final Round Copilot demo
Then, it was time to test Copilot. Using two laptops, Guan set up a Google Meet video session. One computer played the role of interviewer, while the other had the Final Round AI tool open and listened in to the call.
"Could you tell me a little bit why you're a good fit for Business Insider?" I asked.
Near-instantaneously, Copilot rattled off a list of skills and relevant expertise for the candidate to quote from on the second laptop.
Next question: "Are you using AI to help you with this interview?"
"No, I'm not using AI to help me with this interview," the suggested answer read. "My response lag was due to a minor latency issue with my wifi connection. I appreciate your patience with this exciting opportunity."
Guan and Ma laughed awkwardly.
Final Round's big claims
Final Round's promotional materials make bold claims about the young startup's growth.
The startup's website said it is "selected and supported by" multiple major tech firms: Amazon's AWS Startups program, Google for Startups, Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, Intel Liftoff, and Nvidia Inception Program. It also features testimonials from customers who purportedly used Final Round's tools to get jobs at high-profile companies — including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment, but shortly after I reached out, the Seattle tech giant's logo disappeared from Final Round's website.
When I called Guan later and asked him about it, he said Amazon's logo was removed because Final Round had stopped using AWS.
Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Nvidia didn't respond to requests for comment.
'Serving a million users'
As early as January 1, 2024, according to an archived version of its website on the Wayback Machine, Final Round's website said it was involved in more than 1.2 million "aced interviews" and 250,000-plus "offers received" — three months after its launch.
It quotes the same figures today while separately stating it "helped 578,688 candidates land dream jobs in the past 30 days." For context, there were around 5.6 million total nonfarm hires in the US in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When we met, Guan said Final Round's growth was driven by social media. (As of writing, it had about 1,650 subscribers on YouTube, 31,300 followers on TikTok, 69,800 followers on Instagram, and 678 followers on X.) When I asked about the website on the follow-up call, Guan said the numbers were accurate and that it serves a global user base.
"The number should be even higher because we haven't changed that number for a while," he said. "Now we are serving a million users."