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At Algolia, we embrace innovation and that includes AI

We understand that today’s professionals may use AI tools as part of their daily workflow. At Algolia, we build software that helps developers and businesses search and discover efficiently and we believe in leveraging technology thoughtfully and ethically.

As AI becomes more integrated into how people write, code, and communicate, we want to share how we view its role in our hiring process.

This guidance is designed to help candidates understand how AI use fits into our expectations across interviews, exercises, and communication. 

If AI tools played a helpful role in preparing or polishing your materials, feel free to mention that in your submission — transparency is a form of trust.

✅ When AI use is acceptable

We understand that today’s candidates are likely to use AI tools in some ways while interviewing with Algolia for potential employment.  We are open to this, as long as the work remains genuinely their own. For example:

• Research & learning: It’s fine to use AI to understand unfamiliar concepts, explore technologies, or provide clarity on subjects during your preparation.
• Clarity & formatting: AI can be helpful in refining communication whether you’re polishing a resume, formatting a cover letter, or reviewing grammar in written responses.
• Drafting ideas: Using AI to brainstorm or outline early ideas is acceptable, especially for take-home tasks as long as the core thinking and refinement is yours.
• Practicing for interviews: Mock interviews or prompts to help prepare for questions are OK, especially if they build confidence or familiarity.

🚫 When NOT to use AI

While we support responsible use of AI, there are boundaries we expect candidates to respect during our process:

• Don’t submit AI-generated responses to interview or coding challenge questions as your own your voice and thought process are what we’re evaluating. We’re hiring you, not your language model.
• Do not submit AI-generated code or answers as your own in take-home tasks or technical interviews. If your work is AI-assisted, be transparent about it.
• Do not rely on AI to impersonate communication, whether in emails, live interviews, or video interactions. Avoid using AI to generate communication that mimics your voice without review or editing. Authenticity and clarity matter to us
• Do not misrepresent skills or your professional experiences including through AI-enhanced resumes or bios that stretch the truth. At Algolia, trust and care are core values of our culture and organization, and we adhere to these principles in our hiring and evaluation processes as well.  

If we notice work that appears heavily AI-generated or inconsistent with the rest of a candidate’s profile, we may ask for clarification or additional examples of your original work.

💡 Why this matters

Our hiring process is designed to understand how you think, how you solve problems, and how you communicate. We value creativity, curiosity, and authenticity and we believe those qualities can’t be fully captured by AI tools.

Using AI transparently and ethically reflects the kind of TRUST we value in our team.

👥 A human-first process

Algolia is a company where humans lead the way. Whether it’s engineering, design, product, or sales we care about how people reason, collaborate, and grow.

We want you to succeed in our interview process, and we hope this guidance gives you clarity and confidence in how you show up.

Thanks for taking the time to engage with us thoughtfully.

✅ Encouraged vs. 🚫 not-allowed AI use at Algolia

💬 Sample AI prompts that are OK to use

These base prompts are designed to assist with learning, prep, and brainstorming not to replace original work.