Hybrid human-AI coaching: experiences of coaches and agents in a customer service environment
A new study by the ai:conomics team, now published in Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, shows that the real impact of AI in coaching lies not in automation, but in how it reshapes relationships, trust, and learning.
Rather than evaluating whether AI is “better” than human coaching, the paper examines how hybrid human-AI coaching is experienced over time by both coaches and customer-service agents. Initial resistance and surveillance concerns gradually give way to trust and data-informed development, but only when AI is introduced transparently and used collaboratively, not as a monitoring tool.
AI does not reduce the coach’s role; it changes it. Coaches spend less time diagnosing performance and more time interpreting data, guiding reflection, and shaping growth. Employees accept AI feedback not only because it is objective, but because it is contextualized through human dialogue.
The article contributes to ongoing conversations at ai:conomics about how AI reshapes work.
