Challenges/Read AI/General/Keeping Meetings in Sync

Keeping Meetings in Sync

System Design

Data Synchronization

Conflict Resolution

API Integration

Backend Engineering

Estimated Time:

1 hour

Status:Not started

What You'll Be Doing

Role: Senior Backend Engineer Team: Backend Infrastructure Location: Remote

Scenario — "Keeping Meetings in Sync"

Read AI connects to Google Calendar, Outlook, Slack, and Zoom to summarize and analyze meetings. When users update or delete events, Read must stay perfectly aligned — no duplicates, no ghosts, no outdated data.

Problem: Events can arrive out of order or from multiple providers describing the same meeting. Sometimes only one instance of a recurring meeting moves or gets canceled.

Your Task: Design a lightweight sync service that keeps Read's internal event store consistent. It should:

Ingest updates from multiple providers
Use timestamps or version keys to decide which update wins
Handle creates, updates, deletes, and recurring exceptions
Resolve duplicates or overlaps in a predictable way

Example event input:

{
  "provider": "google_calendar",
  "op": "updated",
  "id": "gcal_123",
  "start": "2025-10-16T17:00:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2025-10-08T09:02:00Z"
}

Submit a video walking us through your approach, along with a system design sketch and a conflict resolution plan.

What You'll Accomplish

Design event synchronization systems across multiple providers

Implement conflict resolution strategies for distributed data

Handle out-of-order updates and eventual consistency

Build predictable deduplication logic

Design for reliability in asynchronous systems

How Your Work Will Be Scored

System Design Clarity — 40% Practical Problem Solving — 30% Conflict Resolution Thinking — 20% AI Usage Transparency — 10%

What to Submit

Required Submissions:

System Design Sketch (Required)
- Format: PDF or Document
- Length: 1 page maximum
- Outline or sketch how events flow through your sync service and how you determine the "latest" version
Sync & Conflict Resolution Plan (Required)
- Format: PDF or Document
- Length: 1 page maximum
- In plain language, describe how your service handles duplicates, missing data, or late updates — and how you'd prevent noise or unnecessary retries
Video Recording (Required)
- Format: MP4
- Length: 7-10 minutes (continuous recording, one take)
- Must include all three components detailed below

Submission Guidelines

Video Requirements:

Your 7-10 minute video must include ALL three components:

1. Introduction (1-2 minutes)

Share one example of a time you automated something or improved reliability in a backend system

2. Traits Assessment (2-3 minutes)

Which kind of challenge fits you best — and why?

Scenario A — "The Thursday Fix" (Execution): You've found duplicate meetings caused by one bad update order from Google Calendar. You need to ship and verify a small, safe fix today.
Scenario B — "The Pattern Hunt" (Discovery): You notice recurring data mismatches between Slack, Zoom, and Calendar events. No one's scoped it yet — you'll investigate and design a lasting solution.

There's no "correct" choice — just share your thoughts.

3. Challenge Response (3-5 minutes)

Walk us through your approach to the main challenge:

How would your system decide which event version is correct?
How would you handle missing, late, or conflicting updates?
What's one quick improvement you'd ship first to boost reliability?

AI Usage Declaration:

At the end of your video, please state:

☐ I did not use any AI tools
☐ I used AI tools (briefly describe how, including prompts and edits)

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