The Future of Coaching is Human + AI

The future of coaching is hybrid. Not a replacement, but a symbiotic partnership between human expertise and AI availability.

If I were to choose a coach, I wouldn’t just want a few Zoom sessions a month. I’d want their insights embedded into my personalized GenAI assistant, available day and night, supporting the in-between moments, nudging me with reminders, helping me prepare for meetings, or reflect on decisions.

And I’d want that coach’s philosophy, voice, and methods embedded in the AI, not a generic model trained on mass-market advice. I’d want my coach to “train” the AI that supports me, a concept we’re starting to see emerge with tools like Personal GPTs and coach-specific AI integrations.

This blend is powerful:

• Human coach for depth, empathy, transformation
• AI companion for immediacy, scalability, support between sessions

What This Means for Coaches

Coaches should not fear AI, they should embrace it as an amplifier. Those who adapt will thrive. Imagine being able to:

• Extend your value beyond sessions
• Provide daily nudges and insights via a personalized AI
• Use AI to analyze patterns, journal entries, or sentiment from clients (with consent)
• Spend more time focusing on human connection, less on logistics

But this requires re-skilling. Coaches need to become curators of content, behavior designers, and AI collaborators. They must learn how to “train” their own digital versions, responsibly, ethically, and with purpose.

Final Thought: Coaching is Changing Because We Are

We’re living in an era where uncertainty is constant and transformation is personal. That’s why coaching matters more than ever, and why it must evolve.

GenAI won’t make coaching obsolete. It will make it more accessible, more continuous, and, for those who are thoughtful, more effective.

If you're a coach, the opportunity isn’t to compete with AI. It's to design a future where your insight is always available, even when you're not. I have coached team members in the past, it was sometimes formal, sometimes informal. I am glad next time I do it, I will have the tools to do it more efficiently, at scale with the same empathy and maybe with more impact.

You may not need a human 24/7. But you definitely need human wisdom behind the system guiding you.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Have you tried GenAI-based coaching tools? Are you a coach thinking about your next step?

Let’s start the conversation.

— Axel Douchin

#FutureOfCoaching #GenerativeAI #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #AIinBusiness #DigitalTransformation #HybridCoaching #AItools #TechAndHuman #CareerGrowth #LinkedInThoughts

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