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Practice Before It’s Real: What AI Personas Could Do Across Your Company

From supplier negotiations to difficult employee conversations, AI personas could help distributors practice before the stakes are real. This piece explores how simulated counterparts can strengthen training, preserve veteran expertise and support hiring.

By Patricia Rausch

November 5, 2026

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A New Kind of Interview

This fall, McKinsey & Company began asking some entry-level candidates to hold a conversation with an AI client before they get an offer. As The Wall Street Journal reported on October 14, the firm is piloting an AI avatar that plays the part of a client in roughly 10-minute conversations, with partners or assessors in the room watching how the candidate responds.1

The avatar does not score anyone. Humans still make the call. It is trained on a range of client personalities, from the curious, professorial type who wants to understand the reasoning to a city mayor…

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