Is AI going to replace coaches?

I remember sitting in a room and everyone was saying that by the end of 2025 coaching would no longer exist in the form that we saw it and that AI would have taken over.

A year later and the predictions are unfounded yet we know that AI is transforming the world of work and and coaching is no exception.

Will AI replace coaches? The short answer is no, not in the way many people fear, but it will definitely reshape how coaching works and what future coaches need to focus on.

AI is a Tool, Not a Replacement for Human Presence

Let's be clear I'm not anti AI, I do feel there are ethical and environmental concerns and challenges about it's use however as a tool I think it can be useful. Personally, we use it for some support functions in the business at the moment and we've been meeting partners to look at different ways coaches can use AI tools: people who've spent decades of their lives in the coaching space and are highly respected.

We know AI can assist coaching tasks: generating reflective questions, session summaries, spotting patterns, providing prompts and accountability support. We equally know for things like session summaries and pattern spotting we need written client consent to and I would go further as to saying we need to consider the tools we're using and how ethical it can be to share confidential sessions.

For me currently I think the potential space that AI can support with right now is between session support especially around questions, prompts and accountability. There are some interesting models and companies offering this where clients can opt in.

Even though AI models can be trained on models this is often transactional coaching which doesn't go deep with clients and I would argue is becoming more obsolete as the field of coaching develops. We know models do have their use and are great for new coaches : we also know that the best coaches don't rely on one model or one approach.

We know that AI is currently not a replacement for relational presence, Psychological safety and contracting, nervous system regulation, empathy and deep connection which is why I see it as a tool rather than a replacement.

Human Connection Is Becoming More Important

As we know coaching isn't a protected word and often people perceive coaching as instruction arguing that that instruction does not need to be human centric. Transformational, ICF accredited coaching is not instructional it's based on connection, presence, trust and safety and deep listening where coaches partner with their clients and work within ethical guidelines.

Humans crave connection and as we become more reliant on technology and increasingly isolated the demand for human coaches is increasing : in fact we're seeing that this is one of the biggest changes since the AI revolution that people want to connect more rather than less.

AI can be used for coaches own support

Most coaches I meet are not super keen on marketing, admin or operations and would be happy coaching without any extra demands. This is where AI can come in (with consent and ethical use - the ICF have great guidelines on this).

Coaches may use AI to automate processes and support marketing effort so they can be more focused on their own coaching practice. I would recommend all coaches consider how they use AI in marketing as we're now seeing many generic posts and content which doesn't have the same level of depth and connection. My recommendations are to use it sparingly as a tool and consider where it can enhance what you do rather than replace.

What do I believe will happen next

I think there is an exciting opportunity created by AI to make coaching more accessible and affordable for all. We do need to consider the ethical and environmental implications however there is no doubt transactional, goal oriented coaching conversations can be replicated by AI and can be useful for people.

Human coaches will become more in demand especially those who are operating at a level of Psychological depth where they are operating in the "being" space as well as the "doing" space. We will see a focus on personalisation and transformational experiences rather than a reliance on models and a growth in in-person and team coaching. There will be a change and shift in an understanding of what coaching is / isn't which I for one welcome!

Coaches who are curious and open about the use of AI and integrate it into their practice will see benefits.

Leaders who have coaching capacity and coaching skills will be highly in demand : something which I welcome as these people will be supporting their teams to navigate change and the role of the leader will be one which changes.

And.. I believe we'll become more cautious of some of the tools we have now especially those that are generic. I still shudder when I hear of coach training schools uploading coaching sessions to Chat or similar and what this means for confidentiality and how we're training these models..

I'm excited and open about possibilities as well as being cautious about ethics and environmental issues. I'd love to know what your thoughts are.