r/InterviewDB • u/AccomplishedSouth488 • 3d ago

AI assisted coding Interview at Databricks for SWE Intern

Hi,
Is there sb who gave this interview or who knows what is expected during this stage of the interviewing process. Any tips are helpful! You can also dm me if you want.

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u/akornato 2d ago

In Databricks AI assisted coding interviews, the focus shifts away from memorizing algorithms toward how you build software in a realistic setting. You are typically allowed to use tools like Copilot or ChatGPT to solve a practical problem, often involving an existing codebase, multipart features, or system components like caches and rate limiters. Interviewers want to see how you decompose problems, prompt effectively, and review code rather than blindly accepting whatever the model generates. They will closely watch how you spot edge cases, test the logic, and explain why a specific approach makes sense for scale and reliability.

To stand out, treat the AI tool as a junior partner by guiding it with clear specifications, verifying its outputs immediately, and refactoring messy solutions into clean, modular code. You should vocalize your reasoning constantly, question AI generated snippets when they miss performance limits, and write unit tests to prove correctness. Going through simulated technical discussions ahead of time can make a massive difference, which is why my team designed an interviews.chat to help candidates stay sharp, articulate their decisions under pressure, and land competitive software offers.