I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Kore.ai (Hyderābād) in Jun 2025
Interview
While I always approach interviews with a positive mindset, this particular experience fell short of expectations due to the following reasons:
Lack of a warm-up or context setting: The interviewer (an Associate Director) jumped directly into questions without even a brief intro or rapport-building. At this level, a little contextual discussion is generally expected, especially for leadership roles.
Vague and context-less questions: Many questions were open-ended and lacked clarity. I had to repeatedly mention that I would assume certain use cases to proceed with my answers, but the interviewer didn’t offer additional context or refine the queries.
Resistance to modern engineering practices: I was surprised by the interviewer’s reaction when I explained how even freshers on my team are encouraged to use AI tools (like code assistants) with proper governance. Despite Kore.AI branding itself as an "AI-first" company, the response reflected a reluctance toward progressive engineering practices.
Felt outdated in mindset: The overall tone and feedback loop reminded me of earlier experiences with Kore.AI—they seem to follow a dated approach to tech and team culture, which might explain some of the negative feedback shared by others in the community.
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This is just one individual’s experience, and I respect the fact that hiring styles vary. However, I believe leadership-level interviews should be more conversational, context-driven, and mutually exploratory—especially when the role demands managing people, practices, and outcomes.
I hope this helps anyone preparing for similar roles and gives a balanced perspective on what to expect.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions I Remember:
Tell me something about yourself
Describe your current project and the technologies you use
How do you manage sprints and team tasks?
Do you allow freshers/college graduates in your team to use AI tools? (I said yes, absolutely—especially since we have strong coding practices, code reviews, and delivery processes in place. To this, the interviewer responded in surprise, questioning why anyone would give AI tools to freshers. I explained my view: AI enhances productivity and learning when used responsibly.)
Backend: What is the latest NodeJS version?
Backend: What are the disadvantages of using NodeJS?
Databases: What databases have you used?
MongoDB: What are its advantages and disadvantages?
MongoDB Atlas: What features and limitations does the cloud offering have?
MongoDB on-premise: How would you manage it on self-hosted servers? (I noted that this is rare in today’s cloud-first environments.)
Frontend: Explain your frontend projects and architecture
Frontend: What’s the latest version of React?
Node/React: What are the new features in the latest versions?
Backward compatibility: Should all projects be upgraded immediately? (I explained how upgrade decisions depend on project stability, client requirements, and resource constraints.)
System Architecture: Take any use case and walk through how you’d architect it (I chose a Chatting Service platform and shared my screen to explain it with time-complexity considerations.)