Job interviews punish the unpolished. They reward confidence, clarity, and recall under pressure. But not everyone walks into a hiring panel armed with the right words at the right time. Some stumble. Some forget. Some lose a dream job because they couldn’t frame their experience in the perfect way. Michael Guan and Jay Ma, Co-Founders of Final Round AI saw this problem first hand. So they built an AI to fix it.
A Different Kind of AI
Final Round AI doesn’t wait for you to ask. It predicts, suggests, and adjusts in real time. Candidates upload resumes, enter key career details, and during live interviews, the software feeds them structured, precise responses, the same way politicians read from teleprompters.
Inspired by Iron Man’s J.A.R.V.I.S., the team wanted an AI that didn’t just react, but guided. “Most AI out there is passive, a chatbot waiting for a prompt. We are building proactive AI that assists in real time” Guan explains.
The system listens, processes, and delivers suggestions as the interview unfolds. A recruiter asks about leadership experience? The AI surfaces relevant details from past jobs. A candidate speaks too fast? The AI advises them to slow down.
A Market Hungry for an Edge
The competition for jobs is at an all-time high. AI-powered resume screeners filter applicants before a human ever sees them. Companies deploy AI to rank candidate responses. It was only a matter of time before job seekers fought back with their own tools.
Guan saw it happening in unexpected places. “We built a prototype for sales calls, work meetings. People even started using it for online dating,” he said. “But the biggest use case? Job interviews. People needed real-time support.”
Final Round AI launched Interview Copilot™ as a subscription service, offering job seekers a private AI assistant during interviews. The idea spread fast. Early TikTok demos took off. Users flooded in. “At first, it was just me taking videos on Instagram and TikTok,” Guan said. “But people resonated with it.”
A Business Backed By Millions
In January, Final Round AI closed a $6.88 million funding round led by Uncork Capital, with backing from Linear Capital, Ritual Capital, and others. “Most people don’t really understand how the future of AI will look like,” Guan said. “We are filling the gap between now and the Neuralink era.”
The funding is fueling expansion for Final Round AI, hiring AI engineers, scaling infrastructure, and reaching new markets. The company plans to serve job seekers across industries and borders.
“We’re hiring two kinds of people,” Guan said. “AI engineers and indie hackers. We don’t test ideas with long experiments. We ship fast, put it in front of the market, and learn from real users.”
The Ethical Debate
Final Round AI has its critics. Some argue that AI-driven coaching gives job seekers an unfair advantage. Others say it masks a candidate’s true ability. Guan doesn’t buy it.
“Recruiters use AI to filter resumes, screen interviews, and even assess speech patterns. Why shouldn’t candidates have AI support, too?” he reflected.
Recruiters themselves are shifting expectations. “Many hiring teams now ask candidates how they use AI in their jobs,” Guan said. “If you aren’t leveraging AI, they wonder if you’re falling behind.”
The Future of Job Search
Guan’s vision extends beyond interviews. He wants to build an AI-powered career coach, one that doesn’t just prep candidates for interviews, but finds them better jobs. “Most people don’t know their true worth,” he said. “They don’t realize what opportunities are out there. AI can help them see that.”
The company is experimenting with continuous AI-driven career coaching, surfacing new job opportunities tailored to a user’s skillset and ambitions.
“Today, you’re in finance,” Guan said. “Tomorrow, you could be at SpaceX. The barriers between industries are lower than ever.”
Final Round AI is positioning itself at the intersection of hiring, automation, and human ambition. It’s a tool for the modern job seeker. One that, in a high-stakes moment, could mean the difference between a job offer and a rejection email.
