When Cristina Estupiñán was looking for work after a layoff, potential employers asked her during interviews about her enthusiasm for AI.

Unfortunately, that enthusiasm was missing.

“I have to come up with something about what excites me about AI because, frankly, nothing really excites me about AI,” Estupiñán, who worked in software development, previously told Business Insider.

As more companies adopt AI tools (and more job postings mention the technology), employers are asking candidates to talk about AI during interviews. Job seekers don’t necessarily have to become AI evangelists, recruiting experts say, although they should be prepared to explain how they’ve used the technology and how they think about it.

Like any other interview topic, it’s worth practicing how you’ll describe your experience with AI or explain why you haven’t used it much.

Expect AI to emerge

Candidates should expect interviewers to ask them how they have used AI in previous positions, how comfortable they are with it, and where they see it fitting into their work. Gallup poll results showed that the proportion of American employees using AI at work increased from 21% in the second quarter of 2023 to 50% in the first quarter of 2026.

Hiring managers want to know if and how a potential employee used AI, said Kareem Osman, vice president and market director of technology talent solutions at staffing firm Robert Half.

He said candidates can prepare by thinking about the challenge they had, how they used AI to overcome it, and the end result.

“Highlighting those tangible results whenever possible is going to be crucial in these types of questions,” Osman said.

He added that employers put a lot of emphasis on practical application and business impact, so candidates should think about how they streamlined processes, accelerated tasks and supported decision-making.

“Employers are really trying to see people who are adaptable, who embrace new technologies,” Osman said, adding that hiring managers may also want candidates who can use AI without relying on it completely. Human judgment remains important in producing the final work, he said.

Judgment and interpersonal skills are increasingly important in the world of technology. The era of hiring developers primarily for their coding ability is fading, Osman said, as companies look for full-stack engineers. Employers want people who can clearly communicate their work to others (including explaining how they use AI tools) and understand business needs.

Job candidates can also use the interview to learn about the employer’s approach to AI. Asking how the company uses technology, what tools employees rely on and what expectations exist for daily use demonstrates curiosity, Osman said.

“Be curious and see where the company is going,” he said, especially if AI was a prominent topic in the interview.

Candidates who are skeptical of AI don’t need to pretend otherwise, said Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster. Instead, he recommends answering questions about the technology honestly and succinctly.

“Brevity is key without being abrupt,” Salemi said.

At the same time, candidates who haven’t used AI much need not apologize for it. He said they can explain that they haven’t had much opportunity to do so in their roles before asking interviewers how technology fits into the team’s work. That approach, Salemi said, shows that candidates are willing to learn without exaggerating their experience or enthusiasm.

If job seekers’ concerns focus on a particular area (such as the risks AI could pose to creative work), he said it’s reasonable to emphasize the ways they are comfortable using the technology, such as administrative tasks, programming or logistics.

“You can focus on the things you don’t have a moral problem with,” Salemi said.

You don’t have to love AI

Being honest about limited experience is one thing. Making opposition to AI the focus of an interview is another, said Josh Bersin, a human resources analyst and consultant.

If a job seeker tells a recruiter that they don’t believe in AI, “they may have lost the opportunity to get a job there,” he said.

Ultimately, Bersin said candidates also shouldn’t assume that employers have AI completely figured out. Many companies are still experimenting with where technology adds value, so it’s worth asking questions rather than dismissing them, he said.

“You might strike up a conversation with a company that’s more interesting than you thought,” Bersin said.

Candidates who remain skeptical about AI can still position themselves as strong hires, said Mohit Bhende, CEO and co-founder of talent assessment platform Karat, by emphasizing qualities such as judgment, emotional intelligence, creativity and problem solving.

“People can thrive even if they have that disposition,” he said.

As AI becomes a more common tool in the workplace, expect interviews to focus less on AI itself and more on how candidates analyze problems.

“It demonstrates things that you can do that make you especially capable,” Bhende said.