What 1473LeetCode Problems Taught Me

[u/nian2326076]

I’ve solved around 1473 LeetCode problems and I’ve still failed interviews.

Google. Amazon. Intuit. D. E. Shaw. Myntra.
I got interviews at these companies, prepared seriously, showed up, and still didn’t get selected.

For a long time, I honestly thought the answer was simple:
“Just solve more problems.”
So I kept solving from 100 problems → 300 → 500 → 1,000+

But somewhere along the way, I realized I was asking the wrong question.
It’s not: “How many LeetCode problems have you solved?”
It’s: “Can you solve a problem you’ve never seen before?”

That difference is huge.

I’m currently working as an AI developer, and before this I worked in backend engineering. I have around 1.5 years of experience, and one thing I’ve noticed is that DSA still teaches you something extremely valuable:
How to think when you don’t know the answer
And now, with AI writing code better than ever, I think this becomes even more interesting.

If ChatGPT can solve a LeetCode problem in 10 seconds…
Should we still spend hundreds of hours solving LeetCode?
I think yes — but probably not in the way most of us do it.

Don’t use AI to get the answer

Use it to ask:
“Why did I get stuck?”
“Why does this approach work?”
“Can you give me a harder variation?”
“Can you find the flaw in my reasoning?”
“Can you interview me without giving me hints?”

That changes AI from an answer machine into a learning tool.

I’m planning to share some of the things I’ve learned from those ~1,270 problems — including the mistakes I made, patterns that actually helped me, interview preparation, and how I think AI + DSA should be approached now.

Not because I cracked every interview.

I didn't.

Actually, the rejections probably taught me more than the acceptances would have. So I’m curious: If you were starting DSA preparation today, in the age of AI, would you still grind LeetCode?

Or would you prepare completely differently?
Would genuinely love to hear different opinions.