I agree, but I think my point is that the interview context and expectations can differ radically different from the role context, depending on the interviewer. If the expectation of the interviewer is that the interviewee should be asking questions to determine scale needs, then they should be explicit about that. For all the interviewee knows, you're going to ding them and ultimately fail them for asking too many questions and not exhibiting knowledge and experience.

> For all the interviewee knows, you're going to ding them and ultimately fail them for asking too many questions and not exhibiting knowledge and experience.

I start the interview with “I am here in the role of PM and co-engineer so you can bounce ideas off of me and ask any questions”

Stakeholders won’t start their asks with “Please ask me questions to make sure you’re building the right thing”. Asking clarifying questions is a baseline expectation of the role