Across industries and departments AI is changing how professionals work, and AI skills are becoming increasingly sought after by employers. But how do you know if a candidate can actually use AI effectively? In this guide we'll cover the best interview questions for assessing practical AI skills in non-technical roles, including questions about real-world prompting, content generation, workflow automation, fact-checking AI output, and adapting to new tools.

1. Why AI Skills Now Matter in Every Role

AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Claude are reshaping everyday workflows, and people in traditionally “non-technical” jobs are using them to automate tasks, draft content, and analyse data in order to speed up their processes.

This means that hiring for AI skills isn’t just for technical roles anymore, but is now relevant for:

• Marketers using AI to write social copy or analyse customer sentiment

• Ops professionals streamlining documentation with GPT-based tools

• HR teams generating job descriptions or answering policy questions

• Sales reps summarising meetings and personalising outreach at scale

To stay competitive, companies need to hire people who are comfortable using AI to get work done - not just those who say they are.

2. What Are "AI Skills" in Non-Technical Roles?

AI skills in this context are about tool fluency, critical thinking, and workflow integration, not coding or model training.

When hiring for AI skills, you should look for candidates who can:

• Choose the right AI tool for a task

• Write clear, effective prompts

• Fact-check AI-generated output

• Use AI to improve (not replace) their work

• Adapt as new tools evolve

Make sure to collaborate with team leaders and hiring managers to ensure that the skills you're assessing for line up with day to day role requirements.

3. The Best Interview Questions for AI Skills

3.1 General Prompting Ability

Start by gauging how familiar the candidate is with AI tools and how they’ve used them in practice.

Sample Question:
"Tell me about a time you used an AI tool (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to complete a task faster or better. How did you approach it?"

What to Look For:

• Familiarity with AI tools

• Clear prompt design (e.g., providing context or constraints)

• A focus on results and what was improved

• Awareness of limitations or risks (e.g., hallucinations, bias)

3.2 Using AI in Written Communication

Test how well candidates can use AI to support writing tasks while maintaining tone, clarity, and appropriateness. This is best for marketing, customer service, HR and admin roles.

Sample Question:
"Imagine you need to write a tricky customer email. How would you use an AI assistant to help? What steps would you take to ensure it's appropriate?"

What to Look For:

• Use of AI for drafting or revising tone

• Willingness to review and personalise output

• Consideration of brand voice, sensitivity, and accuracy

3.3 AI for Workflow Automation

Explore whether the candidate has applied AI to streamline repetitive tasks or make processes more efficient. These questions are best for operations, project management, finance and support roles.

Sample Question:
"Can you walk me through how you’ve used AI to simplify a manual process or automate a part of your job?"

What to Look For:

• Real examples (e.g., summarising meetings, generating documentation)

• Clarity around the before/after workflow

• Awareness of risks or challenges e.g. errors in AI output, over-automation, or misalignment with team workflows

3.4 Fact-Checking and Critical Thinking

AI doesn’t always get it right. Strong candidates show they know how to spot errors and take responsibility for accuracy.

Sample Question:
"You’ve just used an AI tool to write a policy summary. How would you verify that the output is reliable before sharing it?"

What to Look For:

• Understanding that AI output isn’t always correct

• Willingness to cross-reference with source materials

• Sense of ownership over the final result

3.5 Learning and Adapting to New AI Tools

Assess curiosity and adaptability by asking how the candidate keeps up with the fast-moving world of AI tools.

Sample Question:
"What’s the most useful AI tool you’ve learned in the last 6 months? How did you find it, and how are you using it?"

What to Look For:

• Self-driven learning (YouTube, peer sharing, experimentation)

• Practical understanding of how to evaluate usefulness - knowing when a tool saves time, improves quality, or isn’t worth using

• A thoughtful view on AI limitations or trade-offs, showing they aren’t blindly optimistic

3.6 Avoid These Common Pitfalls

Even when you're asking about AI skills, it’s easy to miss key signals or misinterpret surface-level answers. Here are common mistakes to watch out for in interviews:

• Assuming AI use is obvious – not everyone knows how to prompt well, even if they’ve used AI tools before.

• Overvaluing tech jargon – using big AI terms doesn’t equal effectiveness. Focus on outcomes and workflows.

• Unstructured interviews – asking different questions to different people introduces bias and inconsistency.

4. How Evidenced Supports Better AI-Skills Hiring

Hiring for AI-enabled roles means testing real ability, not just claims. Evidenced helps hiring teams make accurate decisions by allowing them to:

• Build complete interview kits in minutes that provide interviewers with structured questions and detailed guidance on how to asses for AI skills.

• Use a question library sorted by competency, skills and role requirements.

• Customise scorecards for every interview for quick, accurate assessment of AI skills.

Whether you're hiring a marketer, project manager, or executive assistant, Evidenced helps you identify who can actually use AI to be more effective at work.

Final Thoughts

AI skills are becoming foundational in many roles and industries. By asking the right interview questions - and using tools like Evidenced - you can confidently hire people who will embrace and amplify AI, not get left behind by it.