Journalism of Courage
‘Taxi drivers determine if candidates get hired’: Duolingo CEO reveals unusual hiring test
Duolingo’s co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn shared on The Burnouts podcast that something as simple as how an applicant treats their airport driver can influence whether they get the job.
Ahn said that these early, unscripted moments often reveal more than a formal interview ever could.
At Duolingo, the hiring process begins well before a candidate enters the office. Co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn recently shared on The Burnouts podcast, hosted by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, that something as simple as how an applicant treats their airport driver can influence whether they get the job.
“At Duolingo taxi drivers determine if candidates get hired,” Ahn said, explaining that these early, unscripted moments often reveal more than a formal interview ever could.
He recalled a particular case when the company had been searching for a chief financial officer for nearly a year. One candidate stood out on paper and impressed the team during the interview process. However, they ultimately decided not to move forward after learning the candidate had been “pretty mean” to the driver who picked them up from the airport.
Reflecting on the decision, Ahn said, “If they are going to be mean to the driver, they’re probably be mean to other people too, especially the people working under them.” He added, “Sometimes the biggest interview answers never happen in the room, it happens in the car ride over when they think no one important is watching.”
Check out Ahn’s comments:
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His remarks sparked mixed reactions online. While some people agreed with the idea of judging character through everyday behaviour, others pointed to Duolingo’s past controversies, especially around its ‘AI-first’ direction and layoffs. Critics questioned the company’s emphasis on empathy in hiring while reducing its workforce, with some users making pointed and sarcastic remarks about the contrast.
One user wrote, “Cool. Now let’s talk about all them layoffs in favor of using AI.” Another user commented, “Were all of the people Duolingo fired to replace with AI also mean to taxi drivers?” A third person sarcastically added, “Aww they care so much about people that they replace them with ai.”
“And who teaches those social skills?? Teachers. Real live humans. Empathy, compassion, and human social skills are taught by humans for humans. Not by AI. Not by robots. Guy doesn’t do a lot of critical thinking before he speaks,” someone else wrote.
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The conversation comes amid a challenging job market, particularly in tech. Hiring has slowed significantly, with job listings reportedly down by about 36 per cent compared to pre-2020 levels, according to Indeed’s 2025 Tech Talent Report. At the same time, layoffs have continued to mount, with more than 40,000 tech workers losing their jobs so far this year, based on data from Layoffs.fyi.
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