HOW WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TRANSFORM LEADERSHIP COACHING?

Amplifying the human element for leaders to thrive.

“AI won’t take your job, it’s somebody using AI that will take your job.”

I believe this comment by Economist Richard Baldwin at the 2023 World Economic Forumʼs Growth Summit sums it up best. AI is already transforming leadership coaching. According to a May 2024 data from Similarweb, ChatGPT attracts 260.2 million visitors each month. If you are not using AI yet, you can feel confident that your competitors are.

A Powerful Partner

AI is a game changer for the coaching industry.

One of the biggest advantages AI brings is a more rapid, data-driven approach to coaching. Traditionally, coaching has relied on subjective feedback from peers or annual reviews. With AI, our coaches can synthesize vast amounts of data ranging from 360 feedback to results from our proprietary tools to their coaching calls in a fraction of the time they used to and with more accuracy. This also allows our coaches, who are on call for our clients, to provide more timely and effective guidance.

We are embracing AI to improve every facet of our coaching practice. It has improved our onboarding and offboarding processes with clients and enhanced the digital tools we provide. Our coaches are using AI to improve their retention of data from their coaching calls and even as a data driven sounding board for the counsel they are providing. AI is a game changer. And the best part is that the ways it helps us improve increases each day.

Democratization of Coaching

Historically, executive coaching has been primarily limited to senior leaders, but AI will make coaching available to all.

At fassforward, one of our core principles is to never compromise on our deliverable. For our first 23 years, we would have been compromising on our deliverable if we tried to expand our coaching services to our clients’ younger leaders and individual contributors. AI has changed all of that. We are now developing our AI platform to provide our clients with wide-scale access to our coaching tools without sacrificing their efficacy.

AI will enable corporations to nurture leaders before they become leaders. Traditionally, the leadership conversation begins when companies identify high-potential individuals to become people leaders. By introducing coaching tools and methodologies earlier in the leadership journey, we can help shape and grow future leaders in a more impactful way.

What AI Won’t Change

At fassforward, we refer to our executive coaching practice as a Thinking Partnership.

We help our clients navigate difficult scenarios, think through challenges, ideate on the right approaches, and draw from our tools to elevate their leadership and business. At all leadership levels, the human element remains critical. AI will improve the coaching experience, but the human touch remains integral to successful coaching. The knowledge and wisdom that our coaches bring from their own corporate leadership experience is essential to helping our clients navigate challenging, emotional situations and develop the soft skills that are more important than ever.

In the end, AI is revolutionizing leadership coaching by enhancing datadriven insights, improving coaching efficacy and democratizing access to coaching. Despite some reports to the contrary, I believe AI is not about replacing the human element of coaching, but amplifying it, allowing leaders to grow, adapt, and thrive in a rapidly changing world.