Category: Case Interview

AI hologram participating in a consulting interview with two business professionals, illustrating the role of AI in consulting interviews.

AI Now Sits in the Consulting Interview

Updated July 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant If you reach McKinsey’s final round this year, you may meet an unfamiliar third party at the table. Next to the interviewer and the case sits, at least in the US pilot running since early 2026, Lilli, McKinsey’s in-house generative AI. The task: work…
Read more

Cover image for an article titled “BCG Case Interview: How to Crack the Candidate-Led Case,” showing a candidate leading a case interview discussion in front of a whiteboard with a profitability issue tree, charts, and key takeaways, while an interviewer listens. The image uses a dark green consulting-style layout with the StrategyCase.com watermark at the bottom.

BCG Case Interview: How to Crack the Candidate-Led Case in 2026

By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated June 2026 The BCG case interview rewards one instinct above all: you drive. BCG cases are candidate-led: you set the structure, walk the interviewer through your thinking, and steer toward the recommendation yourself. McKinsey hands you the wheel one question at a time; BCG hands you…
Read more

Cover image for an article titled “Bain AI Interview: What’s Real and How to Prepare,” showing a consulting candidate in an interview room using AI-assisted case tools, digital framework panels, charts, and issue-tree notes to prepare for a Bain-style AI-enabled case interview.

Bain AI Interview 2026: The Real Format and How to Prepare

Updated October 2026 · By Dr. Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant The Bain AI interview is an immersive case interview with a ChatGPT segment built in. You get 40 minutes alone with 10 to 20 slides describing a client situation and complete a set of template slides. You then present your answer in up…
Read more

Cover image for an article on Strategy& case interviews, showing a consultant in a modern office with visual panels representing deals, defense, and corporate strategy case content streams.

Strategy& Case Interview 2026: The Three Case Content Streams (Deals, Defense, Corporate)

Updated May 18, 2026 | By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant Strategy& case interviews don’t pull from a single case library. The cases candidates actually face fall into three distinct content streams that map to the firm’s flagship practice areas: deals strategy cases (M&A and commercial due diligence), aerospace/defense/government cases, and corporate strategy cases.…
Read more

Cover image for L.E.K. Case Interview showing a consultant analyzing CDD-style charts, case notes, and market data in a high-end office setting.

L.E.K. Case Interview 2026: How CDD Engagements Become the Case Format

Updated May 11, 2026 | By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant L.E.K. case interviews are unusual among major consulting firms in this specific way: they’re not abstract business problems designed to test consulting skills in the abstract. They’re compressed simulations of the actual work L.E.K. does on commercial due diligence engagements. The format, the…
Read more