# Explain how RAG works: interview question and preparation resources Aced (formerly Exponent) publishes a public search API over its indexed pages; the guide is at https://www.aced.io/agents/agent-access. Source: https://www.aced.io/questions/5877/explain-rag Source observed: 2026-11-04T22:49:40.898Z Last checked: 2026-11-04T22:49:40.898+00:00 Indexed: 2026-11-05T22:56:08.556+00:00 --- # Explain how RAG works. We are Aced, formerly Exponent. This page is an interview-question page about retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), categorized under Artificial Intelligence, Concept, and Machine Learning. It records interview activity and links to related questions and preparation courses. ## Question activity - **11 interviews** are associated with this question. - **9 interview experiences** have been shared. - The page reports that the question was last asked **7 days ago** at the time shown in the page interface. - Roles associated with the question include [AI Engineer](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=ai-engineer), [Software Engineer](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=swe), [Engineering Manager](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=em), [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=forward-deployed-engineer), and [Product Manager](https://www.aced.io/questions?role=pm). - Companies associated with the question include [InPost](https://www.aced.io/questions?company=inpost), [Sierra AI](https://www.aced.io/questions?company=sierra-ai), Codincity, Handshake, Google, JP Morgan Chase, Databricks, Perplexity AI, and Salesforce. ## Interview experiences The following are user-submitted interview experiences linked to this question. The role and seniority labels are retained as displayed. ### Codincity — Forward Deployed Engineer, Entry Level / L3 [Read the Codincity experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/codincity-forward-deployed-engineer-interview-341acc) > “The interview process spanned four rounds: an initial screening covering analytical puzzles, past project deep-dives, and situational consulting scenarios; a take-home assignment requiring an end-to-end Factory Copilot integrating computer vision for part defect inspection with a RAG pipeline over internal SOPs; a technical defense round reviewing the assignment's architecture, design trade-offs, and horizontal scaling strategies; and a final hiring manager round focused on behavioral fit and employment history, where I was ultimately rejected over behavioral questions and the handling of career gaps.” Listed as **7 days ago**. ### InPost — Engineering Manager, Mid Level / L4 [Read the InPost experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/inpost-engineering-manager-interview-32eb2e) > “It was performed by two employees. It was a bit like good cop/bad cop scenario ;) They were both professional, we dug deep into tech, didn't touch any soft skills” Listed as **a month ago**. The same InPost experience appears twice in the page's interview-experience list and is retained once here as a duplicate destination and statement. ### Handshake — AI Engineer, Senior / L5 [Read the Handshake experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/handshake-senior-ai-engineer-interview-5759be) > “The overall interview process was well organized and gave me a good opportunity to demonstrate both my technical skills and my experience with AI engineering. I felt that I did especially well when discussing Python, machine learning, LLMs, RAG, APIs, and how I approach debugging and solving technical problems. I was also comfortable explaining projects I had worked on and the decisions I made during development. The more challenging part was answering some of the deeper technical questions under time pressure. There were a few questions where I knew the concept but could have explained my thought process more clearly or provided a stronger example. Overall, though, the experience was positive and helped me identify a few technical areas I want to continue strengthening.” Listed as **3 months ago**. ### Google — Software Engineer, Senior / L5 [Read the Google experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/google-senior-software-engineer-interview-c8621f) > “few stages: an initial recruiter conversation, a technical screening, and then a set of onsite or virtual interviews. The technical rounds typically cover coding/DSA, system design, and behavioral or leadership-oriented questions. For a Senior role, I’d expect system design and demonstrating technical leadership to carry significant weight. I’d also prepare for Googleyness/culture-related questions” Listed as **4 months ago**. ### JP Morgan Chase — AI Engineer, Mid Level / L4 [Read the JP Morgan Chase experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/jp-morgan-chase-ai-engineer-interview-3ef69d) > “Recruiter contacted, set up 1st round phone screen with a senior engineer. 45 mins with 20 mins on past projects etc diving in detial before talking about AI/LLM concepts. Was easy 2nd round was 2 stanmdard leetcode coding qns 45 mins with 1st 15 mins on behvaioural so only 30 mins to solve both qns but was quite doable. Walked though the brute force naive approach before moving on to the optimal solution and O(nlogn) etc tiome complexity.” Listed as **4 months ago**. ### Databricks — AI Engineer, Mid Level / L4 [Read the Databricks experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/databricks-ai-engineer-interview-974d8c) > “The team prepares you well for each interview. There is a slicksheet that they give you that describes each section. Very well organized interview process.” Listed as **7 months ago**. ### Perplexity AI — Product Manager, Senior / L5 [Read the Perplexity AI experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/perplexity-ai-senior-product-manager-interview-467b73) > “The XFN behavioral interviews were pretty standard. The things that caught me off guard was 1) the app critique, because they just let me keep talking and using the app and I wasn't really sure what they were looking for 2) the technical system interview, because the interviewer went super deep, pushing me on latency constraints, how I would design algorithms, and defining technical architectures that I wasn't familiar with.” Listed as **9 months ago**. ### Salesforce — Software Engineer, Staff / L6 [Read the Salesforce experience](https://www.aced.io/experiences/salesforce-staff-software-engineer-interview-3e07e8) > “Went well, The interviewer has experience and the questions asked was more systematic aligned to the job posting and tweaked as per the resume submitted” Listed as **a year ago**. ## Community answers No answers have been contributed by the community yet. ## Related questions - [Explain how a rate limiter works.](https://www.aced.io/questions/7418/explain-rate-limiter-works) - [Explain how hash maps work.](https://www.aced.io/questions/4209/how-hash-map-works) - [Explain how microservices work.](https://www.aced.io/questions/3249/explain-microservices-functionality) ## Related courses ### [AI Engineering Interview Prep](https://www.aced.io/courses/ai-engineering) ![AI Engineering Interview Prep](https://images.ctfassets.net/x78yjrjc11pq/25mhKSvDOiCwC89lDj89Ah/9a5fbfacc8d93f05c238ab55baa4e5e5/fde.png?w=800&h=800&fm=webp&q=75) We cover detailed frameworks, example questions, and mock interviews with senior engineers to help candidates prepare for AI engineering interviews at companies such as Google, Anthropic, Meta, and OpenAI. 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