What are the assumptions of linear regression, and how does a random forest actually work?
C3.ai's reported classical-ML screen pair. Textbook recitation passes; what scores is one practical consequence per assumption, and knowing the random-forest failure mode that bites industrial deployments: no extrapolation.
Updated Aug 2026 · Grounded in real Forward Deployed Engineer interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.
C3.ai's reported classical-ML screen pair. Textbook recitation passes; what scores is one practical consequence per assumption, and knowing the random-forest failure mode that bites industrial deployments: no extrapolation.
Lead with where the obvious approach breaks, because that is the judgment they are screening for — most candidates jump straight to the happy path and lose the room.
Then walk the failure back through the pipeline in order, naming the one metric the customer's exec sponsor actually cares about before you propose the fix.
