HackerRank makes Chakra AI interviewer available to customers
By Automate Basics, written with AI from TechCrunch's original
HackerRank has made Chakra, its AI interviewer for developer hiring, generally available to customers, according to TechCrunch. The tool watches candidates work through a coding task, asks follow-up questions and scores their performance, while people retain the final hiring decision.
What changed
HackerRank has made Chakra generally available to its customers after a beta period, TechCrunch reports. The AI interviewer gives a developer candidate a task involving a code repository and access to an AI assistant. As the candidate works, Chakra can ask about their choices and how they would respond to a changed requirement.
HackerRank says Chakra considers the candidate's approach as well as the finished answer, including how they use and assess AI assistance. The company told TechCrunch that the tool has conducted more than 500,000 interviews during testing. HackerRank's chief executive said Chakra can bring several parts of its previous hiring process into one interview. The tool scores candidates, but the final hiring decision stays with people.
Who can use Chakra, and what does it cost?
Chakra is generally available to HackerRank customers, according to TechCrunch. It is aimed at companies assessing developers, rather than at job seekers looking for a separate interview practice tool. Candidates encounter it when an employer uses it in a hiring process.
TechCrunch does not report Chakra's price or say which HackerRank plans include it. A hiring team would therefore need to ask HackerRank about its own access and costs before planning to use it. The report names companies that tried Chakra during testing, but their participation does not establish what access other customers have purchased. Employers also need to consider the rules that apply to automated hiring tools where they recruit; TechCrunch notes that such tools face regulatory scrutiny.
How do I try Chakra at work?
A hiring team could first consider Chakra for a developer role where working through an existing code repository resembles the job. That matches the interview format HackerRank described to TechCrunch more closely than a task judged only by its final answer. Before relying on a score, the team should decide which skills it wants to assess and who will make the hiring decision.
When reviewing an interview, look beyond whether the candidate's code works. Check whether the follow-up questions reveal why the candidate chose an approach, how they handled a new constraint and how they judged the AI assistant's output. Keep a person responsible for interpreting the result: HackerRank says Chakra scores candidates rather than deciding whom to hire.
Frequently asked questions
Does Chakra make the final hiring decision?
No. HackerRank's chief executive told TechCrunch that Chakra scores candidates, while people make the final hiring decision. Hiring teams can use its assessment of a candidate's work and responses, but the reported design does not hand the choice of whom to hire to the AI interviewer.
Can candidates use AI during a Chakra interview?
Yes. TechCrunch reports that Chakra's interview workspace includes an AI assistant. HackerRank wants to assess how candidates frame problems for AI, evaluate its output and guide it toward a solution, alongside their coding work and answers to follow-up questions.
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Written with AI from TechCrunch's original and published after automatic checks: every figure here appears in the original, and no sentence is copied from it. The picture is AI-generated. The original is the authority.
Source: HackerRank’s AI interviewer offers a glimpse into what job interviews could become, TechCrunch, 5 Oct 2026.