In the fast-evolving world of tech hiring, a surprising old-school practice is making a comeback: the in-person job interview. On August 21, 2025, Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that the tech giant is reinstating face-to-face coding interviews, a move driven by mounting concerns over AI-assisted cheating in virtual assessments. This decision, reported by Mathrubhumi and echoed across major business outlets, marks a significant shift in how one of the world’s most influential companies approaches its hiring process.
Google’s move is not an isolated response but part of a broader reckoning in the industry. According to The Wall Street Journal, the rise of remote work and the pressures to speed up hiring led many firms to adopt virtual interviews as the norm. But the convenience of video calls has come at a cost: the integrity of the hiring process itself. With candidates increasingly using AI tools off-camera to answer coding questions, virtual interviews have become unreliable for truly gauging technical skills. Reports suggest that in some virtual technical interviews, over half of candidates may have used unauthorized AI assistance, raising serious questions about whether companies are hiring the right people for the job.
Google employees themselves played a role in pushing for change. During recent town hall meetings, staff voiced concerns about the integrity of remote hiring, emphasizing the need for more robust safeguards. Pichai acknowledged these anxieties, stating that while virtual interviews are both faster and more convenient, they’re susceptible to exploitation by savvy candidates who know how to leverage AI for an unfair advantage. "We want to maintain high hiring standards and ensure employees possess strong computer science fundamentals, even in an era dominated by AI," Pichai explained, according to Mathrubhumi.
But what exactly is happening behind the screens? The Wall Street Journal paints a vivid picture: job seekers in technical roles, facing a battery of coding questions, quietly turn to AI-powered tools—sometimes even full-fledged large language models—to generate answers in real time. Recruiters, unable to see what’s happening off-camera, are left in the dark. The result? Candidates who appear brilliant on paper and in interviews may not have the skills their resumes suggest. This isn’t just a minor inconvenience; it’s a potential disaster for teams that rely on genuine expertise to build secure, reliable software.
And the problem doesn’t stop at cheating. The rise of AI-enabled scammers has introduced a new, more insidious threat. Deepfake technology now allows imposters to convincingly pose as job seekers, sometimes with the intent to gain access to sensitive corporate data or even siphon money from their employers. One chilling example, reported by Breitbart News and detailed in a KnowBe4 blog post, involved a North Korean threat actor who infiltrated the cybersecurity firm KnowBe4 by posing as a remote software engineer. The attacker used a stolen U.S. identity and an AI-enhanced stock photo, sailing through a rigorous screening process that included background checks, reference verifications, and four video interviews.
The deception began to unravel only after KnowBe4’s InfoSec Security Operations Center flagged suspicious activity from the new hire. On July 15, 2025, the company discovered malware had been loaded onto an Apple laptop sent to the remote worker. At the same time, their Endpoint Detection and Response software identified the AI-filtered photo used by the imposter. This sophisticated scheme underscored just how vulnerable even the most security-conscious organizations can be when relying solely on virtual hiring methods.
In response to these growing challenges, Google is ensuring that at least one round of interviews for technical positions is conducted face-to-face. The aim is to better assess a candidate’s fundamental knowledge and abilities—qualities that can be difficult to fake when sitting across the table from an experienced interviewer. This approach also enables recruiters to pick up on subtle cues: body language, communication skills, and the ability to think on one’s feet. These are aspects that, as any seasoned hiring manager will tell you, are often lost in the translation to a virtual format.
Google is hardly alone in this pivot. Other tech heavyweights—including Amazon, Cisco, McKinsey, Anthropic, and Deloitte—have also implemented stronger anti-cheating measures. Some have brought back on-site interviews, while others require candidates to sign agreements pledging not to use AI tools during assessments. A few have gone so far as to impose outright bans on AI use in hiring, according to Mathrubhumi and The Wall Street Journal. The message is clear: the industry is drawing a line in the sand, determined to preserve the integrity of the hiring process in the face of rapidly advancing technology.
The stakes are high. As companies become more reliant on AI for everything from customer service to cybersecurity, the need for employees who truly understand the underlying technology has never been greater. Pichai emphasized that Google’s changes are designed to ensure that new hires have strong computer science fundamentals, not just the ability to prompt an AI chatbot for the right answer. "Even in an era dominated by AI, we need people who can solve problems, think critically, and innovate," he said, according to Mathrubhumi.
Yet, the return to in-person interviews is not without its challenges. For one, it slows down the hiring process—something that many companies were eager to avoid by going virtual in the first place. There are also concerns about accessibility, as not all candidates can easily travel to corporate offices for interviews, especially those from underrepresented or remote backgrounds. Some critics worry that the shift could inadvertently disadvantage talented individuals who thrive in virtual settings but struggle with the pressures of face-to-face encounters.
Still, for many in the industry, these are trade-offs worth making. The alternative—hiring employees based on skills they don’t actually possess, or worse, falling victim to sophisticated scams—poses a far greater risk. As the KnowBe4 incident demonstrated, even the most robust virtual screening processes can be circumvented by determined adversaries armed with the latest AI tools.
So, what does the future hold for tech hiring? While it’s unlikely that virtual interviews will disappear altogether—especially for initial screening rounds—the pendulum is clearly swinging back toward a more hands-on approach. Companies are investing in new tools and protocols to detect AI-generated responses and deepfakes, but for now, there’s no substitute for the tried-and-true method of meeting candidates in person. As the industry grapples with the double-edged sword of AI, one thing is certain: the quest to find (and keep) top talent has never been more complicated—or more critical.
In a world where technology is constantly rewriting the rules, companies are learning that sometimes, the best way to stay ahead is to go back to basics—even if it means shaking hands across a table once again.
