When a client tells me they’ve got an AI interview coming up, my first question is always the same: do you know which tool they’re using? Most of the time, they don’t. And that’s fair, because the names rarely mean much until someone explains them.

So here’s a plain-English guide to the tools you’re most likely to meet in a job search in 2026, what each one actually does, and one important note about a name you may still see in older advice.

The tools you might actually encounter

HireVue

The best-known name in AI video interviewing. You record answers to set questions, or take part in a live video interview, and the system analyses your responses. The key thing to know, because a lot of old advice gets this wrong, is that HireVue dropped facial analysis back in 2021. It now scores what you say, using language analysis, rather than your facial expressions. It’s also worth knowing that many employers only use its human-review features rather than the automated scoring at all. So if you meet HireVue, focus on clear, well-structured answers, not on managing your expressions.

Pymetrics, now part of Harver

This is the name to update in your head. Pymetrics built game-based assessments, short exercises that look a bit like simple games, designed to measure traits like attention, risk-taking and how you process information. It was acquired by Harver, so you may see it under either name now. If you’re asked to play a series of quick cognitive or behavioural games as part of an application, this is the kind of tool behind it. There are no right answers to rehearse. The advice is to be well-rested, read the instructions carefully, and answer consistently rather than trying to game it.

Interviewing.io

This one is mainly for technical roles, particularly software engineering. It provides realistic technical interview practice, often anonymised, so candidates can rehearse in conditions close to the real thing. If you’re in a tech field, it’s more likely to come up as somewhere you practise than as the employer’s own screening tool, though the line between the two is worth checking.

Willo, myInterview and similar one-way video tools

You’ll also meet a category rather than a single brand: one-way video interviews, sometimes called asynchronous interviews. You’re sent questions and you record your answers in your own time, with no live interviewer. Different platforms power these, but the experience is similar. The trap is treating them casually because no one’s watching live. A human almost always reviews the recording, so prepare as you would for any interview.

A quick word on the AI reading your face

Because so much older advice talks about AI judging your expressions, it’s worth saying clearly: the mainstream tools have largely moved away from this, and in the EU, using AI to infer emotions in hiring has been banned since February 2025. So the anxiety about a camera silently marking you down for looking nervous is, for the most part, out of date. What these tools want is clear, substantive answers.

How to use this before an interview

None of these tools are out to trip you up. They’re built to process a lot of applications consistently. Once you know what you’re walking into, most of the mystery, and most of the nerves, fall away. And whatever the tool, the same fundamentals carry you through: know the role, know your own stories, and be ready to say them clearly.