What does the future hold for coaching?

I had the privilege earlier on of hosting a session for the EMCC GPS Dialogue Series, with the catchy title of Preparing for the future of coaching with technology – I thought it would be helpful to summarise the discussion here and continue the dialogue with a wider group!

Before I dive into the details (as I embarrassingly failed at during the session itself, for reasons that will become clear by the end of the next paragraph) I’d like to point out an important trend. I’ve been having discussions like this for a couple of years now, as part of the GPS and beyond, and the interest levels at this session were far greater than I’ve seen to date.

Even a year ago I’d host a session about the impact of technology on coaching and not be surprised if the number of hosts outnumbered those attending. Today there were so many I literally couldn’t keep up with the messages that were arriving in the chat (and reading them led to me taking too long to get onto one part of what I was preparing to share).

I’d prepared some thoughts about what I’d noticed so far in 2024, and what I was expecting to see in 2025, and then used two rounds of breakout rooms. Here are the outputs from those breakout rooms, clustered into themes.

AI offers opportunities and also threats

• AI is seen as a productivity booster (e.g., transforming 3-day tasks into hours) but also a source of stress and fear, including “FOBO” (Fear of Being Obsolete) – I reflected here that the closer I get to the technology the more my own fear reduces. I also had already prepared this quote that’s going around: “AI won’t take anyone’s jobs. People who use AI will take the jobs of those who don’t.” While this is true in that there is not going to be an uprising of the machines to upend the workforce, it’s a bit misleading in that one person using AI could actually be capable of taking the jobs of many people who don’t.
• It enables automation and insights but raises concerns about data privacy, accuracy, bias, and emotional authenticity. All of these are factors that we should be concerned about in human coaching as well, but the unfamiliarity of AI somehow makes them appear worse within that context.

Technology change fatigue

• Coaching clients face challenges such as back-to-back virtual meetings, constant notifications, diminished human connection and a need to keep disrupting within their own organisations.
• The speed and demand of adapting to new tech often feel overwhelming, creating stress and resistance. Coaching is a wonderful gift we can offer our clients to help them slow down, to take stock and consciously commit to a desired way forward.

Accessibility and efficiency are obvious benefits that don’t get the limelight much

• Technology improves access to global coaching, facilitates inclusion (e.g., tools for visually impaired users), and can enhance coaching delivery – I wrote about this in particular in my book Superhuman Coaching!
• Both coachees and coaches have started using AI note-takers, which allow us to focus on listening without manual transcription, but data use and security remain concerns. This feels like a big deal for me – I never manually transcribed coaching sessions before and never would have done, in case someone stumbled across the transcript, and yet in spite of the conversations around confidentiality there seems to be an elevated level of comfort around giving a faceless corporation like Otter full access to the conversation. Let’s get them switched off!

Demographic segmentations

• Younger demographics and tech-heavy industries are more comfortable experimenting with AI, whereas others show hesitance or lack of readiness. As a profession that’s typically older than the mean and likely to delay in our adoption of cutting-edge technology we have a responsibility to role-model the nuances of thinking and feeling our way through tech adoption, starting which increased awareness, particularly considering and its impact on their work and wellbeing.

Engagement with emerging tools

• Actively experimenting with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Fathom and NotebookLM were mentioned, among others) for tasks such as summarisation, analysis and personalising content.
• People even talked about using technology like 3D printing and AI-generated artwork to explore innovative applications in coaching! I think it’s great to experiment in order for us to learn more about what’s possible.

Learning from others

• Gaining insights from tech-savvy clients, particularly early adopters and younger generations, can introduce coaches to new tools and practices. Similarly, there are plenty of peer discussion groups and workshops to exchange experiences and stay informed. I’ll mention one I particularly recommend below!

Key resources

• Keeping updated through podcasts, books, articles, webinars and formal sessions like this workshop.
• Finding and keeping up to date with authoritative sources on specific trends, such as the EU AI Act or advancements in quantum computing. (While the majority of the comments were related to AI I mentioned a wide range of emerging technologies, including quantum computing, blockchain, neural interfaces, biocomputing and more – it’s definitely worth keeping aware of what’s coming down the track.)

Curiosity and experimentation

• Following personal curiosity to test new technologies firsthand and understand their implications. I’d also suggest that we can push ourselves to become more curious about technological developments – in an act of ontological design we can become better at engaging with thinking about newer technology by building up that muscle by simply doing!
• Keep attending sessions like this to identify gaps, learn collaboratively and address fears of falling behind.

Balancing fear and openness

• Acknowledging discomfort with rapid tech changes but striving to remain open and adaptive. I actually think that recognising our discomfort enables us to then use it when we encounter more new developments – and they will come!
• Identifying tools that complement coaching practices while maintaining the human essence of the profession. I was very pleased to see this come out of the discussion!

Ethical and practical awareness

• There are many potential practical and ethical issues. We should pay attention to data privacy, AI biases, the sustainability of technology use and more.
• Discussing the practical implications of AI on professional processes, such as automated note-taking and its integration into client agreements.

The coaching profession is absolutely capable of embracing innovation appropriately and ethically, while safeguarding the core values of human connection and transformative growth. This dialogue was a great example of that emerging, and we simply need to keep the conversation going.

I really do need to point people in the direction of the Coachtech Collective. Every month I produce an in-depth report on the most recent technology news, and every month it’s at least ten pages long! The discussions we have are really helpful in reducing our fear and increasing our pragmatism, in order to increase the positive impact for our clients and truly contribute to the future of the profession.

If you’ve got this far, go ahead to the Coachtech Collective page and use the code BLACKFRIDAY24 (I’m sorry, it is that week though) to get three months for half price.

Coaches do need to actively engage with new technologies to remain relevant. That doesn’t mean to blindly embrace new tech, but it does mean to experiment and question what we know about technology. We need to be mindful of issues like data privacy, AI bias and unintended consequences, but these topics are complex and nuanced. The fact that AI training datasets are biased doesn’t mean they’re bad – from some perspectives our awareness of that bias empowers us to counter it in ways that are impossible and counter-productive when dealing with human bias.

Our creativity, intuition and human connection – perhaps let’s use the word “magic”, cannot be replicated by technology. So let’s lean into critical awareness balanced against optimism, and let’s recognise the potential technology can offer for unarguable good (such as increasing possibilities for green energy and accessibility.

By getting and staying ahead of the curve, coaches can be in a position to support our clients through their uncertainties about technology, and integrate it meaningfully and appropriately into our contexts.

Article originally published on LinkedIn.