Why I’m Not Worried About Being Replaced by AI – and Neither Should You Be

The other day, someone forwarded me an article titled “I built an AI career coach. I’ve never had a better coach.” It was about an AI tool the author had trained to help navigate their career. I read it with genuine curiosity and zero panic.

As an executive coach, you might think I’d feel threatened by something that promises tailored insights at machine speed, with zero calendar juggling. But I don’t.

Not even a little.

Because coaching – real coaching – is about more than serving up tidy answers or optimizing a résumé. It’s about change. And change, real change, requires discomfort, vulnerability, and the kind of psychological safety that no algorithm can authentically offer.

Let me explain.

AI is smart. Coaching is human.

AI can mimic a coaching conversation. It can ask questions, suggest resources, even simulate empathy (kind of). But it doesn’t have lived experience. It hasn’t wrestled with insecurity or held space for someone in the middle of a values crisis.

AI doesn’t notice your body language when you say you’re “fine” but your shoulders tell another story.

AI doesn’t pause after a client’s silence and say, “You don’t have to answer that right now.”

It can simulate curiosity – but it doesn’t feel it.

Executive coaching isn’t about information. It’s about transformation.

Yes, AI can help you prep for interviews or brainstorm career pivots. Great. So can Google.

But leadership is personal. And messy. It’s influenced by office politics, old stories, buried biases, and what happened to you in seventh grade homeroom.

A good coach helps you untangle those threads – not just by asking questions, but by seeing you, challenging you, holding you accountable, and cheering you on when your imposter syndrome tries to hijack the narrative.

And sometimes, we call you on your own B.S. – lovingly, of course.

No bot’s doing that effectively anytime soon.

I’m not competing with AI. I’m collaborating with it.

Let’s be real. I use AI. It’s a helpful brainstorming partner, a fast researcher, a decent writing buddy. My clients use it too.

But we don’t confuse tools with transformation. AI can support the work – but it doesn’t do the work.

Just like a therapist might use a diagnostic questionnaire but doesn’t outsource the therapy, a coach might use AI to help surface insights – but the real breakthroughs still happen in conversation, reflection, and honest-to-goodness human connection.

Bottom line?

I’m not worried about being replaced by AI – because executive coaching is, and always will be, about trust, presence, nuance, and the kind of growth that happens between the lines.

So sure – go ahead and build your AI career coach. But when you're ready to challenge your mindset, change your patterns, and lead more powerfully?

You’re going to want a real human in your corner.

P.S.
Curious what it’s like to have a real coach in your corner? Let’s talk. (No download required.)