Nick’s previously held Software & Data roles at Facebook, Google, & SafeGraph (a geospatial analytics startup).
Currently, he’s the best-selling author of Ace the Data Science Interview, and Founder & CEO of DataLemur.
Nick’s also active on LinkedIn, where he shares career tips with his 160,000+ followers.
At C3. AI, SQL is often used to look at very large training datasets that are fed into different Machine Learning models. So, it shouldnt surprise you that C3. During interviews for Data Analytics, Data Science, and Data Engineering jobs, AI almost always tests job candidates on SQL problems.
To help you ace the C3. ai SQL interview, well cover 9 C3 AI SQL interview questions – can you answer each one?.
Interviewing at C3.ai? With artificial intelligence exploding preparing for an interview at this exciting tech company requires research and practice. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about the C3.ai interview process sample questions, and tips for acing your interview.
Overview of C3.ai
C3. ai is a top company that makes AI software for businesses. It was started by Tom Siebel in 2009. Their goal is to speed up the digital transformation by using AI and machine learning on a large scale. C3. ai has a full enterprise AI development platform and a large library of AI apps that are already built.
Some key facts about C3.ai:
- Headquartered in Redwood City, CA with over 500 employees globally
- Went public in 2020 with one of the largest tech IPOs of the year
- Works with major companies like Shell, AstraZeneca, and the United States Air Force
- Named a Visionary in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise AI Platforms
C3. ai is a dynamic company experiencing rapid growth. They are hiring talented people across engineering, sales, marketing, and more.
C3.ai Interview Process
The C3.ai interview process typically consists of 3-5 rounds:
- Initial phone screen with recruiter (30 mins)
- Technical phone interview (1 hour)
- On-site interview (4-5 hours)
- Coding challenges
- Algorithm questions
- System design
- Experience and behavioral questions
- Executive interview (VP or CTO)
- Final decision
The on-site round is critical and will feature both technical questions as well as behavioral and situational questions Come prepared to write code on a whiteboard as well as discuss your past projects and experiences,
For senior engineering roles, expect questions on distributed systems, scalability, and machine learning. The coding questions will ramp up in difficulty.
Non-engineering applicants can anticipate case studies and questions evaluating problem solving abilities, collaboration skills, and other soft skills.
Throughout the process, highlight your passion for AI and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment. Demonstrate you are a strong culture fit.
Technical C3.ai Interview Questions
Here are some of the most common technical questions asked at C3.ai interviews:
Coding Challenges
- Implement a depth-first search algorithm on a binary tree
- Design an algorithm to find duplicates in a large dataset
- Reverse a linked list in place
- Find cycles in a directed graph
System Design and Scalability
- Design a scalable web crawler
- Build an API rate limiting system
- Design a highly available system that processes 100K requests per second
Machine Learning
- Explain overfitting and techniques to overcome it
- Compare random forest and neural network models
- How would you detect bias in an ML model?
- When would you use unsupervised vs. supervised learning?
Data Science
- How can you handle missing values in a dataset?
- Explain principal component analysis
- How would you detect outliers in data?
Database and Distributed Systems
- Compare SQL and NoSQL databases
- Design a key-value store
- Implement distributed locking
- How can services failover in a microservices architecture?
Make sure you are comfortable with data structures, algorithms, system design, ML, databases, and distributed systems. Brush up on technologies like Python, R, TensorFlow, Spark, Kafka, Docker, and AWS services.
C3.ai Behavioral Interview Questions
Along with technical questions, C3.ai behavioral interviews will assess your soft skills:
- Tell me about a time you worked through a disagreement with a coworker.
- Describe a challenging situation you faced and how you overcame it.
- Share an example of when you had to solve a problem creatively.
- What is your approach to learning new technologies or skills?
- How do you balance speed vs. quality when working on a deadline?
- Give an example of when you went above and beyond expectations.
- How do you respond to critical feedback?
Use the STAR method – give a Specific situation, describe the Task, detail the Action you took, and the Results. Use real examples and quantify your impact when possible.
Highlight your collaboration skills, focus on continuous improvement, and convey your passion for AI. Ask insightful questions to show your interest in C3.ai’s mission and culture.
Tips for Acing Your C3.ai Interview
Here are some final tips for interview success at C3.ai:
Practice coding challenges – Master common algorithms, data structures, and system design questions. Practice on LeetCode, HackerRank, etc.
Brush up on AI and ML – Review key concepts in AI, neural networks, NLP, computer vision, etc. Know common ML algorithms inside and out.
Research C3.ai – Study their website, press releases, Glassdoor, and news articles. Understand their products, mission, and competitive positioning.
Prepare stories – Identify 5-10 stories highlighting your skills and achievements. Tie them directly to C3.ai’s values.
Dress professionally – Wear formal business attire for on-site interviews. It shows you’re taking it seriously.
Ask smart questions – Having insightful questions about the company and role shows strong interest.
With preparation and practice, you can showcase your skills and land a job at one of the most exciting AI companies today. Use this guide to ace your C3.ai interview!
SQL Question 8: Analyzing Click-Through Rates for Cai’s Digital Ad Campaigns
As a data analyst at C3. ai, you have been given the following datasets to use the Click-Through Rates (CTR) to figure out how well digital ad campaigns are doing. C3. ai has run several digital ad campaigns aimed at attracting potential customers to their website. These ads have appeared on various online platforms and are each identified by a unique campaign_id. When a potential customer clicks on one of these ads, they are directed to C3. ais website, and an entry is recorded on the table.
The table also keeps track of when a user who found the site through an ad adds an item to their cart.
The structure of the tables is as follows:
Table:
| campaign_id | user_id | click_time |
|---|---|---|
| 1001 | 487 | 07/08/2022 00:00:00 |
| 1002 | 265 | 07/10/2022 00:00:00 |
| 1005 | 741 | 07/18/2022 00:00:00 |
| 1003 | 192 | 07/26/2022 00:00:00 |
| 1004 | 981 | 07/05/2022 00:00:00 |
Table:
| user_id | conversion_time | product |
|---|---|---|
| 487 | 07/08/2022 00:01:00 | Product1 |
| 265 | 07/10/2022 00:10:00 | Product3 |
| 741 | 07/18/2022 01:00:00 | Product2 |
| 192 | 07/26/2022 01:30:00 | Product1 |
Your task is to write a PostgreSQL query that calculates the click-through conversion rate for each ad campaign. For each ad campaign, the click-through conversion rate is the number of people who click on an ad and then add an item to their cart, divided by the total number of people who click on the ad.
In this query, were executing a left join on and tables based on and . This ensures that were only considering conversions that happened after a user clicked an ad.
Next, we put our results into groups based on and found the conversion rate by dividing the number of unique users who converted by the number of unique users who clicked on the ad.
Conversion rate is a fundamental KPI in digital advertising to measure the success of online campaigns.
On DataLemurs’ online SQL code editor, you can solve this TikTok interview question about rates to get more practice:
SQL Question 2: Customer Usage Pattern Analysis
C3. ai provides AI software for various industries. One of its products is an energy management system for commercial buildings. To find usage patterns and optimize energy consumption, it stores energy usage data per hour. The tables include , , and .
| building_id | name | location | constructed_year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1001 | “Herald Tower” | “NY” | 2000 |
| 1002 | “Spectrum Center” | “LA” | 2005 |
| 1003 | “Capstone Building” | “SF” | 2001 |
| usage_id | building_id | usage_date_time | energy_consumed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17323 | 1001 | 2022-06-08 10:00:00 | 50 |
| 17324 | 1002 | 2022-06-08 10:00:00 | 70 |
| 17325 | 1002 | 2022-06-08 11:00:00 | 75 |
| 17326 | 1001 | 2022-06-08 11:00:00 | 55 |
| weather_id | location | weather_date_time | temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9872 | “NY” | 2022-06-08 10:00:00 | 22 |
| 9873 | “LA” | 2022-06-08 10:00:00 | 28 |
| 9874 | “LA” | 2022-06-08 11:00:00 | 27 |
| 9875 | “NY” | 2022-06-08 11:00:00 | 21 |
Write an SQL query that gives you the average amount of energy used by each building from 9 AM to 5 PM on a day when the temperature was over 20 degrees Celsius.
Location and datetime are linked between the three tables in the query. Times and temperatures are filtered based on the conditions, and then buildings are grouped by name to get the average amount of energy used by those buildings during the conditions that were given.
Solutions Engineering | C3 AI Employee Insights
FAQ
Does C3 AI drug test?
What are AI basic questions?
What does AI look for in interview?
What is the interview process like at C3 AI?
Three parts. Writing assignment, personality, and technical questions. Scheduling was slow but the interviewers were kind and amazing. Definitely need to study and prep for the interview. This should be a primary target and not a random application Got a burning question about interviews at C3 AI? Just ask!
What is the C3 AI hiring process?
The C3 AI hiring process typically begins with an initial screening call or online assessment, followed by multiple rounds of technical and behavioral interviews. Candidates may also be given a take-home assignment or case study to complete.
What was the interview process like at C3 AI a HackerRank?
I interviewed at C3 AI A Hackerrank, followed by a virtual onsite, and an interview with a VP. I enjoyed the process, things went fast, and the interviews were interesting, more than average, but after the last interview I was left without any answer.
What are C3 AI applications?
C3 AI Applications Overview C3 AI Anti-Money Laundering C3 AI Cash Management C3 AI CRM C3 AI Decision Advantage C3 AI Demand Forecasting C3 AI Energy Management C3 AI ESG C3 AI Intelligence Analysis C3 AI Inventory Optimization C3 AI Process Optimization C3 AI Production Schedule Optimization C3 AI Property Appraisal C3 AI Readiness
