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AI coding assistant Cursor, built by Anysphere, bans AI in technical screeners.
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Anysphere’s CEO said programming without AI is a “great time-boxed test for skill and intelligence.”
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Cursor’s hiring process ends with two-days at the office, where candidates build real projects with the team.
To get hired at Cursor, an AI coding assistant built by Anysphere, you can’t use AI in your interview.
“We actually still interview people without allowing them to use AI, other than autocomplete, for first technical screens,” said Michael Truell, the cofounder and CEO of Anysphere, on an episode of Y Combinator’s podcast published Wednesday.
“Programming without AI is still a really great time-boxed test for skill and intelligence,” Truell said, adding that those are core qualities he looks for in a teammate.
There’s another reason behind the rule: fairness.
“We’ve hired lots of people who are fantastic programmers who actually have no experience with AI tools,” Truell said. “We would much rather hire those people and then teach them on the job.”
That beginner’s mindset can be a product advantage, offering fresh insights from first-time users, he added.
The final step of Cursor’s hiring process isn’t a traditional interview. Shortlisted candidates are invited to the company’s office for two days. They work on a real project alongside the team, join in for meals, and demo what they’ve built at the end.
Truell said this setup helps them spot people who are genuinely passionate about the “problem space” — not just shopping around for a job.
“You’re probably not going to be super willing to do that if you’re maybe just viewing it as a job and you’re applying to a bunch of technology companies at the same time,” he added.
Cursor also looks for engineers who are eager to experiment. Truell said the company encourages carving out time for “bottom-up experimentation” — sometimes even sectioning off teams to build independently.
Truell said in an episode of “Lenny’s Podcast” published in May that early hiring at Anysphere was slower than it should have been. The goal was to build a world-class group of engineers and researchers — “a certain mix of intellectual curiosity and experimentation,” he said.
Anysphere, Cursor’s parent company, raised $900 million at a $9.9 billion valuation last month, the company said last week.
Business Insider’s Eugene Kim reported earlier this month that Amazon is in talks with Cursor to adopt the AI coding tool internally.
