An SPL runs an AI lab's data project end to end: the plan, the experts, the quality and the budget. The interview looks a lot like a consulting case, and you can practice it here.
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Built with former SPLs from Mercor, Scale AI, Handshake, Turing and more
| Tasks accepted | C5 | 6,000 |
| Cost per accepted task | C8 | $512 |
| Price per accepted task | C9 | $695 |
| Gross margin | C10 | 26.3% |
| Experts needed, week 7 | C14 | 118 |
Marcus · Head of Operations, Ashgrove Data
Walk me through your $512 per accepted task. Where do rework and discards sit in that number?
A Strategic Project Lead runs data projects for AI labs at an AI data company. The lab says what training data it needs. The SPL turns that into a plan, finds and manages the experts who make the data, keeps quality high, and delivers on time and on budget. Many postings ask for consulting or finance experience, and the interview looks a lot like a consulting case.
Be the AI lab's main contact and run its project from the first spec to final delivery.
Turn what the lab asks for into tasks, guidelines and a weekly delivery plan.
Source, vet, train and manage the contractors and domain experts who make the data.
Set up quality checks, price the work, and keep the project on budget.
Posted pay and what candidates report about each interview. Every fact says where it comes from.
Strategic Project Lead (also written Strategic Projects Lead), and Strategic Project Associate for new grads
Pay: An SPL posting listed a $120K to $200K base. An associate posting listed a $120K base. Both add equity.
Interview: Candidates on Glassdoor report a case and dataset sent about 24 hours ahead, a live round on your proposal, an onsite in San Francisco and a final round with operations leadership.
Strategic Projects Lead
Pay: A Generative AI posting listed $121,600 to $190,000 a year plus equity, for San Francisco, New York and Seattle.
Interview: Candidates on Glassdoor report a phone screen, a consulting-style case, a simple SQL round and behavioral interviews.
Strategic Projects Lead, and Strategic Projects Associate in India
Pay: A San Francisco SPL posting from May 2026 listed $160K to $185K plus equity.
Interview: The India associate posting describes two steps: a short interview, then a day working on a case and presenting it, in the office or over Zoom.
Strategic Projects Lead
The posting describes running data operations end to end and setting data quality metrics.
Interview: We found no public interview reports.
Strategic Project Lead, Software Engineering (New York, San Francisco, Seattle) and Strategic Project Lead, Code (India, remote)
As listed on Turing's careers board in November 2026.
Strategic Project Lead
The posting describes the main contact for AI lab customers, managing a team of domain experts. Remote.
Interview: micro1 says every candidate goes through an AI interview with its AI recruiter, Zara.
Strategic Project Lead
The posting describes owning day-to-day delivery of customer data projects, including margins.
Pay: A California hybrid posting listed $140,000 to $170,000.
Titles, pay and openings change, so check each company's careers page. CaseTutor is not affiliated with any of these companies.
Candidates for Mercor's Strategic Project Lead role report a written proposal case: a client brief and data, then a memo and a spreadsheet model in about 24 hours, then a live round where interviewers push back on it. Some also report a second case they have not seen before. Other AI data companies run a spoken, consulting-style case instead; see each company above. CaseTutor gives you an original case in the written shape, an AI interviewer who attacks your numbers, and a graded report. In the app it is called Proposal Defense.
Pick one of two original cases. You get the client's brief, the data and a spreadsheet template.
Write the memo in the editor, or upload a .docx or .pdf. Build the model in the .xlsx template, in Excel or Google Sheets. Plan for 4 to 6 hours of work.
The interviewer is AI. It questions your own numbers and assumptions, live, and it gives no hints.
Two graders, one report. Scores stay hidden until the defense is over.
Scores stay hidden until the defense is over. Then one report shows:
Your report
Submitted after 21 h
Summary!C14 · Experts at week 7 do not cover the week 7 task volume.
You: “It is 2.4 author hours and 0.6 review hours per accepted task, at the pilot pay rates on the data tab.”
Interview this week? Open the brief today and defend it tomorrow.
Free trial included.
Pick either one. Both follow the same format and get the same report.
Training tasks for a spreadsheet agent
Scope, staff and price 6,000 expert-written tasks in 10 weeks, inside a fixed budget.
Preference data for a six-language voice agent
Price and staff 180,000 rated comparisons in six languages in 8 weeks, with one language short of raters.
Both clients are invented. In each case you play a Strategic Project Lead at Ashgrove Data, a fictional data vendor.
They match the real format, so the practice counts.
Write the memo and build the model yourself.
The interviewer pushes back and does not coach you.
You defend your proposal without knowing how the memo scored.
Late work is still accepted. Your feedback notes the time you took.
No. Both cases are original. They follow the shape candidates describe: a brief, a memo, a model and a live defense. The clients, the data and the numbers are invented.
About 24 hours is suggested for the memo and the model, as in the real format. Plan for 4 to 6 hours of work. Late work is accepted, and your feedback notes the time taken. The live defense comes after you submit.
Yes. The interviewer is AI, not a person. It questions your numbers and assumptions, and it gives no hints.
Excel or Google Sheets. You build the model in the .xlsx template we provide and hand it in as .xlsx. In Google Sheets, use File > Download > Microsoft Excel (.xlsx).
Write it in the editor in the app, or upload it as a .docx or .pdf.
After the defense. Scores stay hidden until then. Your report covers your memo scores, spreadsheet issues with cell references, moments from your defense with quotes, and one thing to fix. If you skip the defense, you still get the memo and spreadsheet report.
CaseTutor members, including the free trial. Each defense uses one interview credit.
Open a brief, write the memo, build the model, then defend it. Open to CaseTutor members, free trial included.
Start the SPL caseFormer SPLs from Mercor, Scale AI, Handshake, Turing and other AI data companies helped build these cases.
CaseTutor is an independent practice tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Mercor, Scale AI, Handshake, Surge AI, Turing, micro1 or Labelbox. The cases are original and do not reproduce any company's interview material.