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Five years ago, an algorithm decided whether your résumé ever reached a recruiter. Now, it might be the one asking you the questions. It can feel unsettling to imagine a machine assessing not just what you say, but how you say it: tone, cadence, word choice, even microexpressions. These patterns feed models that generate a “fit” score, determining whether you ever reach a human being. Agentic AI allows what appears to be a genuine two-way conversation, simulating a first-round interview more realistically than the one-way video prompts of the past. Companies are drawn to it for clear reasons: speed, consistency, and scale. But that efficiency comes with tradeoffs. Human interviewers rely on intuition, while AI systems are built on structure. They detect clarity, confidence, and organization, which are valuable traits, but they sometimes miss creativity, empathy, or cultural fit. The challenge for candidates is to make those traits visible within a digital format. How to adapt The good news is that with a little preparation, AI interviews can feel no more anxiety-inducing than the average first round interview. Heres how to adapt: Get comfortable talking to machines. The best preparation is practice with AI itself. Many candidates stumble because the experience feels unnatural. Practice with AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude so you can get used to speaking without visual feedback. The goal is not to trick the system but to sound confident and conversational when responding to something that doesn’t nod, smile, or say “good question.” Match the language of the role. AI interviewers often compare your responses to the job description. Study it carefully and mirror the companys phrasing and values, much like tailoring your resume to the applicant tracking system (ATS). Use measurable results to back up your claims. Structured storytelling, such as the STAR format (situation, task, action, result), performs especially well with AI models. Refine your delivery. AI evaluates cadence, pauses, and confidence, so training your delivery can improve your score as much as refining content. Slow down, maintain steady energy, and vary your tone. It’s tempting to read off a screen, but even algorithms can detect when speech sounds too rehearsed. Small variations in tone and inflection help you come across as natural. Control your environment. Lighting, background, and camera angle can affect facial recognition metrics. Choose a well-lit, neutral setting and look directly into the camera. Slightly modulate your energy and smile when appropriate. These small cues help the system read you as attentive and engaged. Use AI as your coach. The same technology interviewing you can help you prepare. Upload a job description into an AI assistant, simulate an interview, and request feedback on your clarity and delivery. Candidates who practice with AI tend to improve their confidence and pacing significantly. The future of hiring AI-led interviews are not replacing humans, but they are changing the hiring process. For companies, they create structure and scalability. For candidates, they can level the playing field if used thoughtfully. Don’t discount a company just because they use AI in the process. The best organizations combine human judgment with AIs analytical precision. The future of hiring will rely on both. If your next interviewer happens to be an AI, treat it as a new kind of audience. Preparation, clarity, and authenticity are what stand out. The candidates who succeed will be those who can bridge both worlds, showing not only what they know, but who they are.
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E-Commerce
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Baiju Shah is constantly bridging different worlds. His formative years were shaped by observing his mother, who trained as a commercial artist, and his father, who was an engineer. As global CEO of agency AKQA, he leads an organization that deploys creativity and technology on behalf of clients such as Nestlé, Nike, and Montblanc. And he teaches graduate students pursuing dual degrees in engineering and business administration at Northwestern University. Rather than seeing art and science as distinct specialties, Shah argues that companies and brands must take an interdisciplinary approach, especially in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Technology without craft is a path to efficient mediocrity, he tells Modern CEO in his first extended interview since joining AKQA in July. Exploring the new frontier Shah believes marrying imagination and technology will not only yield better results but that the union is key to AKQAs success. Hes positioning the business as a frontier agency, which helps clients develop new products and experiences through imagination and advanced AI applications. AKQA is hardly the only company promising to blend creativity and tech. Shah joined the agency from Accenture Song, which calls itself a tech-powered creative business. Nearly all large consultancies and advertising companies also boast agencies that sit at the intersection of digital and design. Shahs effort to promote AKQA as a frontier agency comes amid consolidation and turmoil in the advertising world. Earlier this month, Omnicom said it would lay off 4,000 employees and shutter some agencies following its acquisition of rival Interpublic. This year, AKQA parent WPP shuttled creative agency Grey from AKQA to sister agency Ogilvy. As a result of the move, AKQA shrank from 5,500 employees in 2024 to about 2,400 today. AKQA doesnt disclose its revenue; WPP last year reported revenue of 14.7 billion (about $18.6 billion)roughly flat from a year earlier. Preparing for a new playing field The moves come as the industry grapples with how AI is changing the way advertising is made and distributed. Shah believes AKQA is well placed to leverage AIto serve its clients and help WPP build new business modelsrather than be disrupted by it. The agency recently launched Nestlé Goodness, an AI-powered service that acts like a personal chef and dietitian for families, helping them plan meals while balancing time, cost, and nutrition. AKQA has developed generative stores on Googles AI platform that clients can use to create real-time personalized storefronts based on individual intent and preferences. And AKQA harnessed AI to builda cultural intelligence engine that uses dozens of AI agents and computer visioning to analyze millions of pieces of content globally, uncovering cultural signals in real time. AKQA is making the engine available for all the agencies in the WPP network to use. Early in his career, Shah personally witnessed the importance of wedding creativity with technology. While working as a manager at Accenture Labs in the early 2000s, he and a team of developers used advanced analytics to design a system that predicted oil rig failures with extraordinary precision. The technology was superior to existing solutions, but the clients engineers rejected it. Technology by itself, while its the most powerful force out there, is incomplete to actually drive innovation and drive change, Shah says. Accenture Labs supplemented the technical work with a strategist and designers who could build empathy with the users. He says: That was the only way we could drive the innovation forward. For me that was an unlock. The experience prompted him to get an MBA from Northwestern, where hes now an adjunct professor in a program that awards students with a masters in design innovation and an MBA. And while his students are opting into the kind of multidisciplinary degree that feels future-proofed, Shah believes that theyll need to be open to a variety of professional experiences. The future is not going to be defined by rigid job titles, he says. He encourages students to think of careers as a series of steps, each lasting three yearstime enough to really dig in, learn something deeply, and make a meaningful contribution. He also urges adaptability, noting that the teams of the future will likely feature a mix of creatives, technologists, and systems thinkers, and some of them may be AI agents instead of humans. But Shah maintains that human creativity is what will help AI bloom into something more potent than a tool for efficiency. With every wave of technology, the instinct is always to automate what exists, he says. I believe that the brands that grow are not the ones that are just automating yesterdays thinking. Theyre the ones that imagine and are creating what matters next. World changing ideas Is your company or team developing creative or innovative solutions to pressing challenges? Consider applying for Fast Companys annual World Changing Ideas Awards, which recognizes groundbreaking concepts and projects across industries and company sizes. The final deadline is December 12. Read more: future-focused brands Accenture says elevating creatives gave it a competitive edge 121 Brands That Matter in 2025 Six strategies that turn brands into cultural forces
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E-Commerce
If you’ve ever dreamed of sitting behind the wheel of a giant hot dog, then you’re in luck. Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile is in need of Gen Z drivers known as “Hotdoggers,” as the company opens its applications. The iconic vehicle is about to roll into its 90th year. The job is truly unique and, if you’re a hot dog enthusiast with a keen sense of adventure, could be an absolute thrill, especially if you’re looking to avoid a nine-to-five desk job and love to travel. The Hotdogger Program has been around since 1988 and according to Oscar Mayer is likely to be a fit for recent college graduates who are hoping to make a “positive impact” on the communities the Wienerdog cruises through. [Photo: Courtesy of Oscar Mayer] Molle Twing, a former Hotdogger who now runs the program, tells Fast Company that what sets the job apart from mainstream gigs is “just how unexpected it is.” Twing says, “Instead of easing into the workforce behind a desk, an exclusive group of passionate people get to kick off their career, sparking smiles across the country while driving a 27-foot-long hot dog on wheels.” Basically, it’s the perfect antidote to the modern hustle and bustle. It’s freedom in hot dog form. That might be especially true because, according to Twing, the role also ensures that all-important work-life balance that Gen Z values more than just about anything. “While Hotdoggers are on the move throughout their one-year assignment, the role offers structure and time to recharge with friends and family,” Twing explains. Not only do employees receive regular days off each week, as well as a “competitive vacation package,” Twing says that there are all kinds of incentives Hotdoggers take part in, like a “spontaneous hot air balloon ride to discovering historical monuments” and so much more. Twing adds, “each market offers something new and exciting for the Hotdoggers and the opportunity to recharge before the next event.” [Photo: Courtesy of Oscar Mayer] Being a Hotdogger might sound like a quirky gig, but frankly, it’s actually a relished profession for recent college graduates with lots of personality who don’t mind having their 15-minutes of fame. The Wienermobile is an iconic vehicle and its Hotdoggers are sought after, too. As the face of the brand, they make TV appearances, are popular online, and are cheered for wherever they go. They’ve even officiated weddings because, well, nothing says “forever” like a good old glizzy. Interested applicants should check out the posting on the Kraft Heinz Career Page to apply, and hurry, as thousands of applications are expected and only 12 talented Hotdoggers will be chosen for 2026.
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E-Commerce
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