Review — Is Generative AI System Design Interview Book by ByteByteGo Worth It?

Is Generative AI System Design Interview book by by Ali Aminian and Hao Sheng on ByteByteGo worth it

Hello guys, Generative AI is no longer just a buzzword — it’s quickly becoming one of the most sought-after skills in tech.

From ChatGPT to image generation systems like DALL·E and video synthesis tools, companies are racing to build products powered by large language models (LLMs) and other GenAI technologies.

With FAANG and top startups adding Generative AI System Design to their interview loops, preparing for these interviews can feel overwhelming.

This is where the new book Generative AI System Design Interview by Ali Aminian and Hao Sheng comes in. This book aims to provide a structured, practical guide for engineers and ML practitioners preparing for GenAI interviews.

Generative AI System Design Interview

The authors previously co-wrote the popular Machine Learning System Design Interview, a trusted resource for ML interview prep. Now, they’ve brought that same clarity and depth to the exciting new world of generative AI systems.

Machine Learning System Design Interview

By the way, if you don’t know, both books are published under ByteByteGo umbrella and they are also available on ByteByteGo website. If you are preparing for tech interview then ByteByteGo is one of the most popular resource and I highly recommend it.

If always wanted to join then now is the best time as they are also offering 50% discount on their annual and lifetime plan, which makes them even more valuable.

System Design · Coding · Behavioral · Machine Learning Interviews

But is this book really worth adding to your prep list?

Let’s take a deep dive.

What does Generative AI System Design Book Covers?

The Generative AI System Design Interview books is designed to help readers think like an interviewer while tackling the unique challenges of GenAI design problems.

It’s not just about theory — it focuses on actionable frameworks, real-world case studies, and clear diagrams to help you master complex concepts.

Here’s what you’ll find inside:

A 7-step framework to approach any GenAI system design interview question with confidence.
10 real-world GenAI system design questions, each explained in detail with complete solutions.
280+ diagrams that break down complicated architectures, making even the most advanced concepts digestible.
Insider insights into what interviewers are looking for and how to structure your answers.

These all are must prepare topic for any tech interview where Generative AI is required skills. I also suggest you to checkout their full table of content on Amazon to find out more.

Generative AI System Design Interview

Sample Chapters and Topics

The book takes you through a variety of end-to-end generative AI systems, including:

Gmail Smart Compose — Designing intelligent text suggestion systems.
Google Translate — Building scalable multilingual translation using neural networks.
ChatGPT (Personal Assistant Chatbot) — Architecting large language model–based conversational AI.
Image Captioning — Bridging computer vision and natural language processing.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) — Combining search and LLMs to build knowledge-grounded AI.
Text-to-Image and Text-to-Video Generation — Designing systems like DALL·E, Stable Diffusion, and Sora.
Realistic Face Generation & High-Resolution Image Synthesis — Handling high-performance GPU pipelines and safety constraints.

This blend of interview-ready frameworks and state-of-the-art GenAI topics is exactly what modern interviews demand.

Generative AI System Design Interview

Why This Book Stands Out?

Apart from the fact that the book is created by FAANG experts here are a couple of reasons why I think this book stands out:

Practical, Interview-Focused Approach
While research papers and online tutorials often dive deep into theory, this book is tailored to interview scenarios. Each chapter teaches you how to communicate system design trade-offs, scalability considerations, and model choices in a way that resonates with hiring managers.
Real-World Case Studies
From ChatGPT to personalized headshot generation, the examples are drawn directly from the systems powering today’s AI revolution. This makes the content both engaging and directly applicable to questions you might face at FAANG, OpenAI, Anthropic, or other cutting-edge AI teams.
Visual Learning with 280+ Diagrams
Designing generative systems often involves complex workflows — model pipelines, retrieval systems, GPU clusters, and more. The extensive diagrams make these concepts far easier to grasp compared to plain text.
Strong Continuation of the ML System Design Series
If you’ve read Machine Learning System Design Interview, you’ll immediately feel at home. The structure is familiar: concise frameworks, well-chosen case studies, and actionable takeaways.

You can get the book here on Amazon — Generative AI System Design Interview

How It Fits Into Your Interview Prep?

If you’re targeting AI/ML roles at companies like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, or top startups, GenAI design questions are increasingly common.

Both, Recruiters and hiring managers expect candidates to understand:

LLM architecture and how to scale training and inference.
Serving pipelines for real-time text, image, or video generation.
Data considerations like prompt engineering, synthetic data generation, and safety.
Trade-offs between cost, latency, and model performance.

This book gives you a step-by-step toolkit to confidently address these challenges. You’ll learn not only how to design systems but also how to communicate your design decisions — a skill that often separates successful candidates from the rest.

As I said, this book is part of ByteByteGo and you can also read the free sample chapter on Machine Learning algorithms here

Who Should Read This Book?

This book is ideal for ML Engineers who are preparing for top AI/ML roles at FAANG and other top tech companies but apart from that following set of people can also benefit from this book:

Machine Learning Engineers preparing for FAANG or top AI startup interviews.
Software Engineers pivoting into AI roles and needing a crash course in GenAI system design.
Data Scientists looking to strengthen their systems knowledge for technical interviews.
Students and New Grads aiming to get ahead in a field where GenAI knowledge is becoming essential.

If you’re already comfortable with basic ML concepts and want to focus specifically on generative AI architectures, this book is a perfect next step.

And, if you have ByteByteGo membership then you can read this book for free here.

If you don’t have ByteByteGo membership you can also get it now for 50% discount as they are running a launch sale.

System Design · Coding · Behavioral · Machine Learning Interviews

Complementing Other Resources

While Generative AI System Design Interview is excellent for system design preparation, you’ll still want to practice coding, ML fundamentals, and traditional system design to be fully ready for FAANG-level interviews.

This is where the ByteByteGo platform shines. Founded by Alex Xu (author of System Design Interview — An Insider’s Guide), ByteByteGo offers:

System Design courses covering everything from classic distributed systems to cutting-edge GenAI topics.
Coding interview practice for algorithms and data structures.
Machine Learning System Design content (including this book) all in one place.
Generative AI interview prep, including RAG, LLM serving, and scalable architectures.

Right now, ByteByteGo is offering a 50% discount on both their annual and lifetime plans, making it an incredible value for anyone preparing for technical interviews.

Here is the link to get discount — Join ByteByteGo now for 50% OFF

Verdict — Is Generative AI System Design Interview Worth It?

Absolutely. If you’re serious about breaking into AI or advancing your career in this fast-growing space, this book is one of the best investments you can make. It combines:

A proven interview framework to handle GenAI design questions.
Real-world examples of systems you’ll actually encounter in interviews.
Visual explanations that make even the most advanced architectures understandable.

Whether you’re preparing for a FAANG ML Engineer role, a startup AI architect position, or simply want to stay ahead in the AI revolution, Generative AI System Design Interview provides the clarity and depth you need.

Pair it with the ByteByteGo platform (now at 50% off) and you’ll have a complete toolkit for mastering everything from system design to machine learning and generative AI.

System Design · Coding · Behavioral · Machine Learning Interviews

Final Recommendation

If you’re preparing for GenAI-focused interviews or want to understand how modern LLM systems are built and scaled, grab this book and start reading.

And for a more holistic prep experience, consider the ByteByteGo lifetime plan while the discount lasts — it’s the one-stop solution for system design, coding, ML design, GenAI, and OOP design that today’s FAANG interviews demand.

Other System Design and Coding Interview and Resources you may like

All the best for your Generative AI System Design interview preparation and learning journey , if you have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

P. S. — If you just want to do one thing at this moment, join ByteByteGo and start learning software architecture fundamentals and you will thank me later. It’s one of the most comprehensive resource for Gen AI System Design interview now.

System Design · Coding · Behavioral · Machine Learning Interviews

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