Kevin SuraceKevin Surace is an AI pioneer, inventor, author, and human effectiveness authority helping people thrive while AI reshapes work and life.

The AI Skill That Could Get You Hired in 2026

13 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief segment from Kevin Surace's YouTube video, Surace recounts a recent hiring process for a sales engineer position where 107 candidates were narrowed to five. He explains that his primary interview question was, “Tell me about AI. How do you use AI?” While most candidates gave generic answers, one applicant, Chris, stood out by declaring his passion for AI, describing how he builds AI agents to automate every aspect of sales engineering and sales processes, and even stating he would walk away if the company didn’t allow him to implement such automation. The exchange illustrates the growing importance of demonstrable AI expertise—particularly automation of sales workflows—as a decisive factor in hiring for 2026.

If you want to get hired in 2026, this is exactly what you need to say in your next job interview.
I just went through hiring a sales engineer at a company. We had 107 applicants, got to the top 5. My number one question, tell me about AI. Tell me how you use AI. They had some basic knowledge, you know, and then one guy came in, his name's Chris. He comes in and he says, hey, before we get this interview started, I need to ask you a question. Great, go ahead. He says, listen, I love AI. I'm writing AI agents and I want to automate everything we do in sales engineering. In fact, I'll automate every sales process I can and I want to be able to do And if you don't want me to do that in this company, I don't want to interview.
Yeah.
What did I say? You're hired.