Why We Need to Be AI-Savvy in Coaching

The most dangerous phrase in coaching right now? “AI can’t do what I do.”

Jonathan Reitz recently challenged this assumption, and he is right. People are already using AI for reflection, feedback, and structured growth. The question is not if AI will play a role in coaching, but how. To be clear: AI coaching is not here to replace the richness of human coaching. It can’t replicate empathy, presence, connection, or humour. What it can do is complement human coaching by widening access to reflection, structure, and immediate support in the moments when leaders need it most.

A growing body of research shows that AI is already making its mark in coaching. A 2025 peer-reviewed study by Passmore, Tee and Rutschmann found that an AI coaching agent could perform at ICF ACC level, with glimpses of PCC-level competence. It was strong on structure, agreements, and consistency, but weaker on nuance, empathy, and adaptability. The same study highlighted that ethics remain central. While the AI handled routine boundaries well, more work is needed for unpredictable, high-stakes situations. It also noted limitations: only one AI tool was tested, the sample was self-selected, and sessions were text-based rather than multimodal. 

A companion systematic literature review by Passmore, Olafsson and Tee (2025) echoed these themes. It confirmed that AI coaching is both useful and accepted, while calling for stronger safeguards and rigorous evaluation. Alongside these performance studies, researchers are also asking deeper questions. A 2025 Oxford Brookes study explored whether AI chatbot interactions can genuinely be considered “coaching.” It examined how users experienced reflection, trust, and behavioural change when working with AI. This raises an important challenge: competence is not the only measure; we also need to consider whether people feel they are truly being coached.

Why This Matters for Education

In education, the need is even sharper. Coaching has been shown to strengthen leadership capacity, improve retention, and build resilience (van Nieuwerburgh, 2019; ICF Global Coaching Study, 2023; CIPD, 2021). However, access to high-quality coaching is still limited by time and cost. School leaders are often balancing accountability pressures, staff well-being, and their own development, which leaves little space for structured reflection.

AI reflection tools such as ChatGPT and Coaching Co-Pilot cannot replace the richness of a coaching relationship. Still, they can widen access by giving leaders structured reflection and immediate support when they need it most. That’s why I created TalkSavvy™ Coach to offer those same benefits, but in a way that’s grounded in coaching practice and designed specifically for education leaders.

Just as teachers are learning how to integrate AI into classrooms, leaders need to consider how AI might support their professional development. The question is not about replacement but about integration. AI should free up capacity for human connection, whilst also offering equity of access and real-time interaction that human coaches, limited by cost and time, cannot always provide.

For school leaders, the value is immediacy. Whether preparing for a staff performance conversation, reflecting after a challenging parent meeting, or clarifying priorities for the week ahead, TalkSavvy™ Coach gives you structured support in the moment. It is affordable, accessible, and always available, without the time or cost barriers of scheduling a full coaching session.

Where TalkSavvy™ Coach Fits

I created TalkSavvy™ Coach because I could see the need for a safe, structured AI reflection tool for leaders. As the research has emerged, it has helped me adapt and strengthen the design. The studies show that AI is strong on structure and consistency but weaker on empathy, adaptability, and safeguarding. That insight has shaped the way TalkSavvy™ Coach has evolved and will continue to evolve. I do not believe a general large language model is the right tool for coaching. Just as you would not want an untrained person walking in off the street to coach school leaders, you should not rely on a chatbot trained on the whole internet to do the same. Coaching requires care, structure, and safeguards.

There is also growing momentum in the AI reflection space. Tools such as Edthena’s AI Coach, which supports teachers through structured video reflection, and Riff at Stanford’s d.school, which generates personalised reflective prompts, show that AI can play a role in supporting professional growth. These tools demonstrate what is possible, but they are either prototypes or focused on specific contexts. TalkSavvy™ Coach is different. It was created by a leadership coach for leaders, grounded in emotional intelligence and my C.R.A.F.T. communication skills framework (Clarity, Respect, Adaptability, Feedback, Trust).

These are the kinds of reflection questions I would ask my own clients. Safeguards are built in so that leaders can use it responsibly and with confidence.

TalkSavvy™ Coach is not here to replace human coaches, just as teachers will never be replaced by technology. But just as students now carry an incredibly smart computer in their pockets, leaders today need AI-savvy reflection tools.

Think of TalkSavvy™ Coach as a reflection partner:

• You can drop in a thought and instantly get powerful questions.
• You do not need to book an hour or pay a premium for every small reflection.
• It helps you prepare for deeper, richer conversations with your human coach.

For coaches, TalkSavvy™ Coach is not a competitor but a companion. Giving clients structured reflection between sessions helps them arrive better prepared and more focused. This means coaching time can be spent on the deeper, relational work that only a human coach can provide.

TalkSavvy™ Coach is not a generic chatbot built on internet data. It is rooted in my intellectual property: not just the C.R.A.F.T. communication framework, but the way I coach. The kinds of questions I ask, the way I encourage reframing, and how I help leaders shift their mindsets have all been built into the tool. Every reflection pathway, every safeguard, every prompt is shaped by the same methods I use with my clients. As a result, using TalkSavvy™ Coach should feel like having me, Malarvilie, in your pocket, guiding your reflections whenever you need it.

Yet, I'm fully aware that as a human coach, I respond and comment on your body language. I inject a bit of humour to release some tension and develop rapport. I pause for that second too long to allow you to dig deep into your thought processes. I give you a smile to encourage you to trust me with your thoughts and opinions. Whilst TalkSavvy Coach is unique, it is still not fully me.

Safeguards and Responsibility

Like all powerful tools, AI must be handled with care. I have been meticulous about safeguarding and maintaining ethical boundaries, testing scenarios with my beta group to ensure they are safe, respectful, and purposeful. We have all read the stories of AI gone wrong, and I take that seriously.

The International Coaching Federation’s 2025 Practical Guide on AI and Coaching Standards stresses that safeguarding and clear ethical boundaries must be at the heart of any AI coaching tool. TalkSavvy™ Coach has been developed with those principles in mind, ensuring that it supports reflective practice without overstepping the boundaries that require human judgement and care.

Tackling Bias in AI Coaching

One of my biggest concerns when building TalkSavvy™ Coach has been bias. Too many AI systems are shaped by data that is male, white, and Western-centric. As Caroline Criado Perez highlights in Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, when we fail to account for diversity in design, we risk reinforcing exclusion rather than dismantling it.

That is why I have been intentional from the start. TalkSavvy™ Coach is not perfect. Like any AI tool, it carries the perspective of the person who created it, in this case, me. To address this, I have a cohort of 30 beta testers that includes school leaders from primary and secondary, educators from both UK and international contexts, and professionals from a mix of genders, ethnicities, and career stages. Their perspectives are shaping how TalkSavvy™ Coach develops so that it serves a genuinely diverse community.

Developing TalkSavvy™ Coaching is a continuous commitment and will never be a finished product. Ensuring equity and representation in AI coaching is not a one-off task but a continuous commitment. This means drawing on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL): technology should be created with the people who will use it, not just for them. For me, it is about ensuring leaders from all walks of life can use AI coaching tools and feel seen, respected, and supported in their growth.

Research Informed The findings from the research above have directly shaped how I am refining TalkSavvy™ Coach. Studies show that AI performs well on structure and consistency but struggles with empathy and adaptability. That has guided me to build on what AI does best, providing reliable reflection frameworks, while adding safeguards and testing ways to embed emotional intelligence through my coaching practice.

For researchers, TalkSavvy™ Coach also offers a live case study of how AI reflection tools can be developed and tested in education. The current beta includes qualitative feedback from 30 leaders across primary, secondary, and international contexts, representing a mix of genders, ethnicities, and leadership stages. Future iterations will continue to be shaped by user evidence, aligning with calls in the literature for co-designed, ethically grounded AI coaching research.

The evidence informs the boundaries and safeguards, but the coaching voice inside the tool is mine. In this way, TalkSavvy™ Coach combines research with practice to evolve as a safe, reliable, and genuinely human-informed AI reflection partner.

Voices from the Beta Group

Here is what some middle and senior leaders testing TalkSavvy™ Coach are saying:

“It helped me prepare for a difficult staff conversation. I liked how it offered three levels of insight depending on how structured I wanted to go.”  Deputy Head

“It is a really impressive tool - natural interactions, and it takes in complex information until all key points are addressed.” Head of Science

“I used the C.R.A.F.T. approach option and came away with a clear idea of how to tackle the situation I presented. I also liked the validating responses it gave.” Phase Leader

Looking Ahead

This work is ongoing, and I am relishing it. TalkSavvy™ Coach is ideally used alongside a human coach. Together, they create the best of both worlds: accessibility, structure, and instant reflection from AI, with the empathy, connection, and transformation of human coaching. As Education Week noted in its 2025 feature, AI is most effective when it works alongside humans rather than instead of them. The same is true for leadership coaching. TalkSavvy™ Coach is designed to complement, not compete with, the human experience of being coached.

For those of us in education, the challenge is to explore AI with curiosity and responsibility. That means experimenting, sharing learning, and demanding high standards of ethics and inclusion. Reflection and leadership development have never been one-off tasks, and AI will not change that. What it can do is put more tools in our hands to lead with clarity, confidence, and care.

We need to embrace the future, not fear it. Just as our parents once wrestled with the video recorder or the Commodore 64, we are the pioneers now, guiding the next generation to use these tools safely and powerfully.

TalkSavvy™ Coach is part of this wider shift. It is not perfect, but it is evidence-informed, safeguarded, and being co-designed with the people who will use it. At the same time, it carries my coaching voice and methodology, built over 25 years of leadership and coaching. My aim is simple: to make high-quality reflection accessible to more leaders, whenever they need it.

Are you a current or aspiring school leader, who wants a safe space to reflect and grow? TalkSavvy™ Coach is opening for early access on 15th September, ahead of its official launch on 1st October.

Every user gets a free one-week trial, so you can explore how an AI reflection partner supports your leadership before committing.

If you’d like to be among the first to try it, get in touch using the details below. I’d love to hear your reflections as TalkSavvy™ Coach begins its journey.

hello@malcpd.com

www.malcpd.com/contact

https://www.malcpd.com/talksavvy-coach

Further Reading

Education Week (2025). Can AI effectively coach teachers? Available at: Education Week

International Coaching Federation (ICF). (2025). Artificial Intelligence in Coaching Standards: A Practical Guide. Available at:  Coaching Federation

Krishnasamy, M. The C.R.A.F.T. Framework. MalCPD. Available at: MalCPD

Nobes, J. (2025). Is AI chatbot coaching actually ‘coaching’? Exploring relationship and reflection in AI-human conversations. Oxford Brookes University, openEQUELLA. Available at: openEQUELLA

Passmore, J., Olafsson, B., & Tee, D. (2025). A systematic literature review of artificial intelligence (AI) in coaching: Insights for future research and product development. Journal of Work-Applied Management. Available at: Emerald

Passmore, J., Tee, D. R., & Rutschmann, R. (2025). Getting better all the time: Using professional human coach competencies to evaluate the quality of AI coaching agent performance. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice. Available at: Tandfonline

Reitz, J. (2025). The most dangerous phrase in coaching right now? “AI can’t do what I do.” LinkedIn article. Available at: LinkedIn

© 2025 Malarvilie Krishnasamy | TalkSavvy™ is a trademark of MalCPD Education Consultancy & Coaching Ltd

I’m a Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach with 25 years in education and leadership. I founded MalCPD and created TalkSavvy™ Coach, an AI-powered reflection partner built on my C.R.A.F.T. framework and coaching methodology. My focus is on supporting school leaders to communicate with confidence, lead with emotional intelligence, and create impact.