Blog: Notes and Ideas

Bot-to-Bot Interviews? Rethinking the Rules of Hiring in the Age of AI

“You exist- checked! The real interview is bot-to-bot.”

What started as a cartoon punchline is rapidly becoming a reality.

Just this week, a friend shared their experience interviewing a candidate who was clearly using AI - live - to generate answers in real time. The surprise wasn’t just in the behavior itself, but in the realization that the boundaries of what’s considered “fair game” in interviews are becoming increasingly blurred.

At the same time, many interviewers - perhaps even the one conducting that very interview - are also using AI. From drafting questions to creating case studies and evaluation rubrics, AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are quietly shaping the hiring process from both sides of the table.

So it begs the question:
Are we moving toward a world where our AI interviews their AI, and humans are just verifying they exist?

AI as the New Interview Coach

It’s now completely normalized to use AI for interview preparation.

Platforms like Yoodli, InterviewAI, Huru, or even custom GPTs simulate mock interviews, give feedback on tone and clarity, and suggest better responses. Candidates can practice endlessly with virtual coaches that learn and iterate. It’s smart, scalable, and effective.

For competitive roles, preparing with AI is no longer an edge - it’s expected.

Yet, the use of AI during the live interview remains controversial. If a candidate consults AI in real time, it’s still viewed as dishonest or even a disqualifying move.

But shouldn’t we pause to ask:
If we expect people to use AI on the job, why not test their AI skills during the interview?

Introducing a New Interview Phase: The AI Skills Test

Instead of banning AI from the interview room entirely, perhaps it’s time we make space for it intentionally.

Imagine a dedicated phase of the interview where candidates are encouraged to solve a problem using an AI assistant of their choice - live or in advance. This could showcase:

• Prompt engineering skills

• Critical thinking with AI suggestions

• Ability to fact-check, refine, or reject AI outputs

• Creativity and efficiency under pressure

Much like how we test for coding, writing, or presentation skills, AI tool fluency should become part of our skill assessment toolbox.

Where to Draw the Line: The Human Element Still Matters

However, not everything can or should be done with AI.

The live interview remains essential to evaluate:

• Authentic interpersonal communication

• Cultural and team fit

• How a candidate explains their own experience

• Real-time reasoning and adaptability

• Values, passion, and intent - the deeply human elements of work

Letting AI answer for the candidate here undermines the very purpose of the conversation. LLMs produce statistical approximations of what “good answers” sound like, but they can’t replicate a person’s story, judgment, or sense of humor - at least, not yet.

We need clear boundaries. Allowing AI into the process doesn’t mean eliminating human evaluation. It means clarifying when and how each is appropriate.

The Other Side: AI-Written JDs, AI-Generated Questions - What Are We Really Evaluating?

Let’s be honest: many job descriptions are written (or rewritten) by AI. Some hiring managers rely on LLMs to generate technical questions, competency matrices, or even sample answers.

In this AI-powered loop, we must ask:
Are we testing skills - or just navigating the statistical output of competing AIs?

If so, the live human element becomes even more important - not less. We should preserve real conversation to uncover alignment, purpose, and trust - the foundations of strong working relationships.

What Comes Next? Expect a New Set of Rules

We’re on the cusp of a new era in recruitment. The LLM generation will bring:

• New etiquette and ethics for AI use in hiring

• A shift in what we value - from memorization to collaboration with tools

• More structured AI-inclusive assessments

• A redefinition of what it means to be “prepared”

This transition won’t be seamless. But if done thoughtfully, it could lead to more equitable, dynamic, and skills-relevant hiring experiences.

Final Thought

The goal of interviews was never to catch people off guard - it was to find the best match for a role. As AI becomes a co-pilot in work and life, our hiring practices must evolve with it.

Not to replace people - but to better understand them, support them, and make smarter, fairer decisions.

Let’s not wait for AI to rewrite the rules.
Let’s start designing them - together.

Ioana

📣 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁! (in Romanian below)

I’m proud to share the upcoming launch of a groundbreaking new book by my father, 𝗔𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗻, a distinguished philosopher, semiotician, and correspondent member of the Romanian Academy.

📘 “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 – 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘵: 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘞𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘞𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘐” invites us to rethink the essence of communication in a world where artificial intelligence, digital networks, and automated discourse increasingly shape human interaction.

🦜 𝗔 𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿’𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻:

"𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦... 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 – 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 '𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭,' 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦." – Aurel Codoban

🧠 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸:

  • Communication is negotiation, not just expression.

  • In an era of digital networks, we must ask: On what do we rely?

  • Therapeutic communication: how to open the mind of someone suffering to help them.

  • The truth of communication matters more than the truth of knowledge.

  • Each of us can become a total presence with access to all the world's knowledge.

  • In an age of overwhelming and uncontrolled communication, how can silence offer us a chance to reclaim meaning and reflect?

I’m thrilled to celebrate his intellectual curiosity and continuous engagement with the future of communication. 🌐

#BookLaunch #Communication #AI #AurelCodoban #DigitalParrot #Comunicare #Philosophy #Semiotics

📣 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗮!

Am bucuria să anunț lansarea noii cărți semnate de tatăl meu, 𝗔𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗻, filosof distins, semiotician și membru corespondent al Academiei Române.

📘 “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘪 𝘦𝘪 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘦 – 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭: 𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘪 𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘢 𝘐𝘈?” ne invită să regândim esența comunicării într-o lume în care inteligența artificială, rețelele digitale și discursurile automatizate modelează tot mai mult interacțiunile umane.

🦜 𝗢 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗮 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘂𝗶:

„𝘈𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪 𝘷𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘢, 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘷𝘢 𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘢 𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘢... 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘪 𝘱𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘪 𝘯𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘪 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘪 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘪, 𝘦 𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘪 𝘥𝘦 „𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶”, 𝘱𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘦𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘪 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘱𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘱𝘶𝘤𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘪 𝘯𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦.” – Aurel Codoban

🧠 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗶 𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲:

  • Comunicarea este negociere, nu doar exprimare.

  • În era rețelelor digitale, întrebarea esențială este: Pe ce te bazezi?

  • Comunicarea terapeutică: cum să deschizi mintea celui care suferă pentru a-l ajuta.

  • Adevărul comunicării contează mai mult decât adevărul cunoașterii.

  • Fiecare dintre noi poate deveni o prezență totală cu acces la toată cunoașterea lumii.

  • Într-o epocă a comunicării copleșitoare și incontrolabile, cum poate tăcerea să ne ofere șansa de a regăsi sensul și de a reflecta?

Sunt încântată să sărbătoresc curiozitatea sa intelectuală și implicarea constantă în viitorul comunicării. 🌐

Lansarea volumului

Link Librarie.net

#LansareCarte #Comunicare #AI #AurelCodoban #PapagalulDigital #Filozofie #Semiotică

Ioana

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: Scale

May 17, 2025

In today’s world, a small team can serve a global audience, automate complex workflows, and personalize experiences at a scale that once required thousands of employees. This isn’t a futuristic dream - it’s already happening. WhatsApp served 200 million users with just 50 employees. Solo content creators reach millions. Businesses like Amazon, Salesforce, and Airbnb operate on infrastructures that grow exponentially without ballooning headcount.

What do they all have in common? They’ve mastered the art of scale.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆. It’s not simply “more” - more users, more revenue, more features. True scale is about more with less. It’s about designing operations, services, and systems so that output grows faster than input. It’s the difference between linear growth and exponential reach. Between hiring more people and building smarter systems. 📈

Whether you’re a startup founder, a team leader in a large organization, or a solopreneur building something extraordinary, understanding scale has never been more essential. We live in a time when AI agents can handle marketing, customer support, financial planning - even product development. ⚙️

Cloud infrastructure, automation, and platforms with network effects give businesses the ability to grow faster, further, and more efficiently than ever before.

But this kind of scale doesn’t happen by accident. It requires 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 of what’s possible.🚀

Over the past year, I’ve been working on a book that explores the mechanics and mindset behind scalable execution. It dives into how companies - big and small - can grow without losing control, and how individuals can now do what once took entire departments. I’ll be sharing more insights from that journey over the coming weeks.

If you’ve ever wondered how to scale your service without losing quality, how to automate without sacrificing the human touch, or how to grow strategically instead of chaotically - this is for you.

𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲.

#Scale #Innovation #Automation #AI #Solopreneur #GrowthStrategy #DigitalTransformation #Leadership #Efficiency #FutureOfWork

Ioana

3 Signs Your Service Might Be ready to Scale

(…and why most teams miss them.)

May 03, 2025

Scaling a service isn't a celebration - it's a responsibility.

Too many teams try to scale chaos, not clarity.

In the book I’m working on with my partners, we talk about how scale becomes possible only when patterns emerge - and you choose to design around them.

Here are 𝟯 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 your service might be ready for that shift:

🔁 𝟭. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀

Your team is solving similar problems repeatedly - but with custom effort each time. This is a sign there’s a repeatable core hiding under the noise. The opportunity: identify the pattern, abstract it, and shape it into a base service.

📈 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱

You’re not just busy - you’re stretched. But not because of random requests - because of clear, concentrated demand. This is the moment to stop and ask:

“What would it take to deliver this at scale, without just adding people?”

🧩 𝟯. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

When frontline team members build their own templates, trackers, or checklists - that's not inefficiency. That's proto-structure. It’s a signal that the service is ready to move from craft to system.

We explore these transition points in the book to help leaders make scaling a conscious design act, not a reaction to chaos.

Curious - what early signs have you seen before scaling?

What did you wish you’d noticed earlier?

#servicescaling #designforscale #operations #strategy

Ioana

What Most People Get Wrong About Scaling Services?

April 27, 2025
Scaling is about getting smarter - and making growth a conscious decision.

Scaling isn’t just about getting bigger.

➡️ True scaling happens when returns grow exponentially while costs grow minimally - or even stay flat.
Not when every new customer forces you to double your costs.

You don’t stumble into real scale by accident. Scale needs to be conscious. 

➡️ It requires intentional design, structured decision-making, and the right frameworks.

Over the past months, together with my partners Andreas Huebner and Rahul Jindal, I have been working on a framework to help service leaders design scalable, resilient, and efficient growth paths.

We’re shaping these ideas into something bigger - and we can’t wait to share more soon!

👉 What’s the biggest challenge you've seen when trying to scale services?

#servicescaling #growthmindset #strategy #operations #BIGServices

Ioana

𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗜𝘁 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗠𝗲... 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸?

March 28, 2025

AI still finds ways to surprise me even though I am using it a lot. Here is a simple fun test that you can try to check how your AI of choice is seeing you.
Have fun with this and let me know what you think about your result. I have posted this on LinkedIn and am following it to see how my network buddies look like in AI's eyes.
And the network answered with even more fun. Try it out!

💭 What your AI of choice thinks about you?

👉 Prompt:

“Generate a portrait of how you are perceiving me based on our interactions. Include an image please”

👉 Prompt:

"Based on everything you know about me, roast me"

Ioana

Welcome! We’re Live

March 23, 2025

After years of working on strategy, innovation systems, and scaling services across startups, enterprises, and everything in between - I finally decided to give my ideas a home of their own.

This website is a space to bring together what I do, what I believe in, and what I’m currently building. It’s also where I’ll be sharing reflections, frameworks, tools, and thoughts - especially on the intersection of strategy, innovation, and inclusive accessibility.

Will I publish every week? Probably not. Between collaborations, projects, and real-world execution (the good kind), I won’t be writing constantly - but when I do, it’ll be something worth reading. Or at least something I care deeply about.

So, welcome! If you’re curious about how to scale with purpose, build innovation that sticks, or make digital spaces more inclusive, stay tuned. Or better yet - drop me a message, and let’s collaborate.

Warmly,

Ioana