The future of coaching includes AI … and something more

By Antoine Laganiere

AI has been the focus of debate for many business leaders since large language models, like GPT, became widely available in 2022. It’s sparked excitement for the future and concerns about potential risks – in equal measure. And the coaching industry is no different.

While AI is changing the way we work and think, it’s also reminding us of something impactful coaching has always done well: help people not just know what to do, but actually become who they want to be.

AI is changing the way coaches work and shifting the way leaders think about coaching

Coaches use AI as a tool to help initiate certain aspects of the role, like generating ideas, developing plans, and summarizing interviews. It’s a good solution for making certain objective and tactical parts of coaching more efficient.

And leaders can benefit in the same way. AI can help develop strategies, act as a sounding board, or serve as an accountability partner. It can help narrow down key challenges and provide helpful answers and questions to clarify direction.

AI can accelerate what we understand and know. But understanding and knowing is only step one. The limiting feature of AI is the subjective side of growth – the real work of leadership transformation.

For example, we can ask AI to write a response for us to a difficult conversation with a colleague, and the words will probably be close to “right”. But while getting to the answer may help us address this one interaction, it won’t help us sit with discomfort, notice our body’s reaction in the moment, or reflect on why this conversation is difficult for us. These are the in-between moments that make us better leaders. They don’t require more information or answers, they require more presence.

In embodied growth moments, we need to listen to our emotions, be attuned to others’ reactions, and stay grounded in ourselves. We need to reflect, not just react – something that’s all too pervasive in today’s fast-paced world. We need to slow down enough to feel what’s actually happening, and human coaching is what can integrate that learning for us.

Coaching is how we integrate what we learn

I believe AI helps lower barriers to entry when it comes to some of the benefits coaching provides. For example, AI can recommend tools and strategies to help leaders accelerate growth in areas like time management, organization, or meeting goals. It can also reduce the upfront vulnerability some leaders experience in the coaching relationship, allowing us to more safely get comfortable exploring tougher issues.

While the future of coaching includes using AI to provide some of these objective tools and strategies, it will focus coaches on helping leaders with everything that comes afterwards. On recognizing and feeling the changes that coaching brings. Integrating the shifts and living them. Holding space, resonating, sharing, and co-creating. Because these aren’t soft add-ons. They’re the necessary conditions that make deep, sustainable change possible.

As leaders, we’re going to be tempted to accelerate everything, even the internal, subjective work. But transformation and growth isn’t simply a download.

It’s a practice, a felt experience, a series of moments where something new is tried, noticed, lived and eventually, organically integrated.

That’s where we need to take time. To be curious, imperfect humans. To let our journey unfold in its own way.

That’s where the true learning and growth happens. That’s where we become the best versions of ourselves. Smarter, yes, but wiser and deeper, as well.

There’s no denying that the future of coaching is both high-tech and human. This is great news because we have the opportunity to accelerate meaningful growth for the benefit of all people and the systems we’re a part of.

IMPACT can help

To learn more about how you can partner AI and coaching to accelerate your growth as a leader, contact us.