What is AI Coach?
AI Coach is like a People Scientist in your pocket. It delivers personalized, contextual, and science-backed coaching to help people navigate challenges, build capability, and take confident, effective action.
Unlike generic AI tools, AI Coach doesn’t rely on pre-written responses. It draws on Culture Amp’s extensive people science knowledge base and over 1.3 billion data points from top-performing teams to provide relevant, practical guidance tailored to the moment.
How AI Coach Works
AI Coach isn’t just a chat tool, it’s a behavior change enabler. It mirrors what it’s like to work with a human coach by helping users reflect, clarify their goals, and move from insight to action with confidence.
Built on People Science
AI Coach was created by an accredited coach and registered psychologist and is grounded in proven methodologies and frameworks. It uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to reference real-time content from Culture Amp’s People Science library, ensuring responses are both current and scientifically validated.
How AI Coach Accesses Knowledge: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
You’ve likely heard the term RAG in relation to generative AI systems. RAG stands for Retrieval-Augmented Generation.
In a RAG system, when a user types in some kind of prompt or query, instead of sending that prompt directly to an Large Language Model (LLM), the RAG system first goes off to find any relevant documents that might help the LLM do a good job with handling the prompt. It then passes in those documents as context along with the prompt.
Our Coaching Philosophy and Approach
We believe learning, growth, and high performance require more than assistance, they require coaching.
Core Beliefs
Here are the core beliefs that guide AI Coach’s design:
Coaching is a partner in growth – helping people move forward with clarity and purpose.
Psychological safety matters – coaching works best when it’s adaptive and personally relevant.
AI should enhance, not replace human insight and decision-making.
Everyone deserves high-quality support, no matter their role, location, or background.
Coaching turns insight into action, empowering people to lead effectively and with confidence.
“A coach helps you figure out what and who you want to be, and then supports you in understanding and actioning what you need to grow into that.”
— Didier Elzinga, Culture Amp CEO
How AI Coach Responds to You
AI Coach recognizes that not all needs are immediately clear. Instead of assuming you know exactly what you need, it works with you to explore the challenge, reflect, and move toward a clear and effective next step.
AI Coach follows a flow designed to mirror the way a real coach would guide a conversation. It follows a consistent flow regardless of the specific product:
Understand your situation – AI Coach confirms your intent and reflects your challenge in your own words.
Clarify your goal – It helps identify what you're really trying to achieve—not just the initial surface-level problem.
Apply a framework – AI Coach draws on people science frameworks like SBI or GROW to support structured reflection.
Build confidence through tools and practice – You might explore role play, feedback planners, or guided techniques.
Take meaningful action – AI Coach offers tips or next steps that lead to clarity, confidence, and results.
Example Flow
Let’s say you ask General AI Coach for help navigating feedback conversations. A flow might look like this:
AI Coach reflects the challenge:
“Thanks for sharing that with me. It sounds like you're feeling uncertain about your performance and would value more clarity from your manager.”
AI Coach clarifies your objective and applies a framework:
“I hear your frustration—you're getting general positive feedback but missing the specific, constructive insights that could help you grow as a manager. I'd like to suggest working through Culture Amp’s framework for asking for feedback.”
AI Coach supports action through guided questions or role play:
"Would you be interested in exploring some specific questions and approaches you could use with your manager to get more meaningful feedback?”
AI Coach offers a practical tip grounded in People Science:
“Great. One effective approach is to schedule a dedicated feedback conversation with your manager.”
By walking through this flow, AI Coach helps you move from uncertainty to clarity and prepares you to take effective, confident action.
The Coaching Tools Behind AI Coach
AI Coach uses a combination of coaching modalities to guide behavior change:
Modality | Definition | Supports | Example Use Cases |
Role Play | Realistic practice scenarios | Confidence, emotional readiness | Rehearsing a tough conversation, Negotiation practice |
Frameworks | Mental models to structure thinking | Clarity, reflection | Giving feedback, Setting goals |
Tools | Ready-to-use templates or planners | Execution, clarity | Feedback planner, Action planner, 1:1 agenda |
Strategies | Suggested techniques or tactics | Capability, experimentation | Pause-and-summarize, Mirroring, Split tracks |
Guidance | Personalized recommendations | Decision-making, insight | Best-practice nudges, What to prioritize |
Topics | Area of focus for the coaching conversation | Personalization, flow logic | Communication, Feedback, Goal setting, Career growth |
General AI Coach: Capabilities and Audience
While it may be tempting to ask AI Coach general questions, it’s designed to support specific use cases around leadership, communication, and development, not act as a general AI assistant.
General AI Coach is designed to support anyone in your organization, but it's particularly useful for:
People leaders and team leads
Managers preparing for high-stakes or developmental conversations
Anyone navigating feedback, tough topics, or team dynamics
Topics General AI Coach Can Help With
Topics General AI Coach Can Help With
AI Coach can support a wide range of people leadership and communication topics, including:
Giving and receiving feedback (e.g. SBI model)
Coaching conversations (e.g. GROW model)
Difficult conversations
Performance challenges
Recognition
Goal setting and accountability
Career development
Planning and running 1-on-1s
Building trust with your team
Employee absenteeism
Team effectiveness
Helping lower-performing employees
Employee engagement
Tough decision-making
When General AI Coach Works Best
When General AI Coach Works Best
AI Coach is most effective when used to:
Prepare for workplace conversations
Craft constructive feedback messages
Plan and run 1-on-1 meetings with team members
Structure development discussions
Develop your conversation skills through suggested approaches
Find the right words when you're unsure how to start difficult conversations
Get guidance on common workplace scenarios based on people science
How General AI Coach Helps Your Organization
How General AI Coach Helps Your Organization
AI Coach helps people leaders act with clarity, confidence, and speed by providing:
Clarity on what to say – Organize your thoughts and use science-backed language to express them.
Confidence before taking action – Practice using role plays and guided prompts to feel more prepared.
Support for tough conversations – Receive structured guidance for challenging messages.
A safe space to practice – Explore options and test ideas without pressure.
Faster speed to action – Move from insight to execution with clear next steps.
Help overcoming avoidance or indecision – Break challenges into manageable actions.
Science-informed coaching – Get recommendations grounded in research, not just generic advice.
AI Coach in Performance: Applying the Principles
AI Coach in Performance is context-aware and sensitive to managers current focus and task. If a manager is working on an incomplete review, the default suggested prompts will focus on helping them with the review by summarising feedback, drafting review content, or workshopping ideas about a direct report’s performance over the performance period.
If the review has been submitted and the manager is viewing the completed review (for example, to prepare for the performance conversation), it pivots to conversation-focused prompts to help the manager prepare for a constructive, psychologically safe discussion and agree on next steps.
While General AI Coach is available to support anyone in your organization, AI Coach in Performance is tailored for managers, supporting them in three key ways:
Summarize Feedback, Reveal Highlights and Opportunities
Summarize Feedback, Reveal Highlights and Opportunities
AI Coach is designed to reduce cognitive burden and bias by quickly synthesizing various performance data sources to develop an objective, robust view of an employee's performance over time.
AI Coach helps managers move past being overwhelmed by data by reviewing available data (including self-reflections, peer and upward feedback, Shoutouts and previous manager reviews) to create themes.
These evidence-based themes help to develop an objective, robust view of performance over time.
AI Coach uses similar functionality to our AI feature Highlights and opportunities, but presents the information in a conversational format, and encourages managers to share their own observations and insights on the themes to create a holistic view of the employee’s performance period.
It is able to distinguish between purely positive feedback / recognition and constructive feedback to distill them into clear, thematic summaries.
Themes are surfaced only when supported by feedback from at least two sources, ensuring they are evidence-based.
Shoutouts are incorporated only as supplementary recognition, reinforcing strengths already supported by other feedback.
Managers can easily view the source of the feedback, making insights transparent and verifiable.
Help Write the Performance Review
Help Write the Performance Review
The guidance underlying AI Coach in Performance is rooted in Culture Amp’s research and established best practices for high-impact performance conversations. The goal is to facilitate review writing that drives sustainable high performance and employee engagement.
AI Coach applies the same feedback characteristics that our Suggest Improvements AI feature uses to help craft effective performance feedback; in addition it also uses evidence-based practices to make reviews clearer, fairer, and more useful. It emphasizes objective evidence, bias reduction, and psychologically safe dialogue.
It does this by encouraging managers to:
Use a supportive, empathetic tone and be constructive when presenting feedback.
Embed specific recognition of concrete contributions to support motivation and engagement, not just day-to-day praise.
Anchor reviews to goals, outcomes, and competencies to help reduce subjectivity and common biases, leading to clearer judgments.
Foundation: Psychological Safety and Value-Driven Reviews
Employees want performance reviews that feel open, honest and meaningful. AI Coach's guidance prioritizes this approach to support and help maintain psychological safety - which Culture Amp has found is essential for sustainable high performance. The underlying principle is that performance reviews should focus on an employee's value and growth, not just assessment.
This is achieved by guiding managers to:
Maintain a supportive, empathetic, and positive tone throughout the entire review, and lead with appreciation of their contributions and efforts, reinforcing what they do well. Even underperforming employees usually have some strengths or efforts that can be acknowledged.
Be supportive and constructive when presenting feedback. The goal should be to help the employee improve; not to condemn them. Focus on observable behaviors and impact, rather than personal judgment. no “new news” reviews (i.e. the review is not the time for new feedback, instead it should be a summation of the performance period), to help maintain psychological safety and trust.
Further reading: 60 phrases for performance review feedback
Recognition
Employees consider performance reviews high quality when appropriate recognition is included. Culture Amp research shows that recognition is also one of the top drivers of engagement.
AI Coach encourages managers to:
Highlight specific actions and their results, e.g. using the SBI model to clearly show the positive impact
Incorporate feedback from others where possible, e.g. showing a positive impact to a team or to others.
Structure for High-Impact Content
AI Coach encourages a review structure that is based on research which identifies the topics most critical for employee development and future value. This ensures the written review is meaningful and comprehensive. AI Coach prompts managers to reflect on the full picture of performance (what happened, how it happened, and what’s next), using evidence from the review period.
Impact and achievements: Leading with specific recognition of major contributions, as recognition is a top driver of engagement.
Growth and development: Directly addressing career aspirations and opportunities for skill-building.
Barriers to performance: Objectively addressing systemic issues or challenges that may have hindered an employee’s work.
Goals / Objectives / KPIs / OKRs: connect feedback directly to the employee’s stated objectives.
Team performance or collaboration: recognising contributions to team outcomes.
Other achievements (beyond expectations): stretch work or extra contributions.
Values and/or competencies: observable behaviors aligned to role and culture.
Managers can also use the review to reinforce that the employee’s work matters, and to share clear next steps or future opportunities which employees value alongside appropriate recognition and developmental support.
Best Practices for Constructive Feedback
When addressing areas for improvement, AI Coach promotes established frameworks to ensure feedback is effective and motivational:
Aim | Description | Framework example |
Objective and observable feedback | The guidance promotes using the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model or similar frameworks. This ensures comments are factual, focusing only on the specific, observable action and its measurable result, removing ambiguity and bias. | SBI (Situation – Behavior – Impact) — describe where/when it happened (Situation), what you observed (Behavior), and the result (Impact). This keeps feedback factual and reduces defensiveness. |
Framing for growth | Constructive feedback is consistently framed as an opportunity for growth and development. Research shows that high performers are specifically motivated by constructive feedback when it is delivered supportively. | “Even better if …” / “10% better …” — frame small, safe-to-try improvements that build on strengths and keep momentum in growth conversations. |
Clear next steps | Managers are guided to use actionable models, such as "Stop/Start/Continue," to clearly communicate the specific changes needed, moving from abstract criticism to tangible developmental steps. | Stop / Start / Continue — “Stop [action] because [consequence]. Start [action] because [intended result]. Continue [action] because [positive impact].” Use when broader behavior shifts are needed. |
Why This Matters for Performance and Engagement
Reviews are perceived as higher quality when they include appropriate recognition and reference specific examples from the review period, rather than generalities.
Employees also value managers who show interest in their aspirations, provide development opportunities, offer appropriate recognition, and help them understand future career possibilities - signals AI Coach encourages managers to include in their review and follow-up conversation.
Help managers prepare to have a performance conversation.
Help managers prepare to have a performance conversation.
AI Coach in Performance prepares the manager for a fair, constructive conversation once a review is complete, using the same core coaching principles as General AI Coach.
Principles AI Coach Applies in Conversation Preparation
AI Coach in Performance uses personalized, contextual, and science‑backed coaching to help the manager move from reflection to action with confidence, in a similar way to General AI Coach.
Start from real context: AI Coach anchors guidance in the most recent completed review for the direct report. It can reference additional information if the manager explicitly asks for it.
Applies a coach‑like flow: Understand the situation, clarify the aim of the meeting, apply a simple framework to organize messages, practice delivery, then agree on concrete actions.
Bias‑aware, evidence‑first: AI Coach nudges the manager to use observable examples, balanced recognition, and future‑focused language to reduce bias and keep the discussion constructive.
Confidence through practice: AI Coach provides prompts, role play, and ready‑to‑use tools so the manager can rehearse and refine wording before the meeting.
Frameworks and Strategies AI Coach Uses
AI Coach in Performance draws on familiar, practical tools so the manager can structure messages, practice delivery, and land clear next steps. These are the same that underpin our General AI Coach.
By combining these principles with coaching frameworks and practical tools, AI Coach in Performance helps the manager hold a constructive conversation that reinforces strengths, addresses growth areas, and ends with clear actions.
AI Coach in Surveys
AI Coach in Surveys is designed for anyone with access to shared survey reports. It helps all users move from results to action by surfacing meaningful themes, suggesting practical actions and goals, and drafting clear communication, grounded in people science.
AI Coach in Surveys works alongside you to enhance your analysis. It surfaces themes, and using a coaching approach, asks clarifying questions and prompts for context to deepen understanding beyond the numbers. Use it to complement your review of the report: it's a support for your judgment, not a replacement.
Discovering Themes
Discovering Themes
Themes are recurring concepts or patterns across multiple survey questions. Focusing on themes helps you discover the relationships between data points instead of treating each question in isolation. Engagement outcomes are influenced by clusters of related experiences, so looking across signals leads to better diagnosis and more effective action planning.
AI Coach in Surveys identifies and prioritizes themes relevant to your context by considering question and factor scores, impact ratings to the index, questions recommended by the Focus Agent, user-selected questions flagged for focus, and topical relationships between questions.
For a full list of data used in AI Coach in Surveys, see What Data Does Coach in Surveys Use?
This complements your analysis by revealing connections that might be missed if you just focus on single questions. In most cases, you will see two to three underlying themes per session to keep guidance focused and actionable. You can ask for more or fewer themes, dig deeper to explore why patterns may have emerged or what they potentially mean, or explore a hypothesis that you might have.
|
Example: The Focus Agent highlights “The leaders at [Company name] keep people informed about what is happening” as a high impact question. AI Coach identifies an overarching theme of ‘Leadership communication and visibility.’ Coach connects the highlighted question with “The leaders at [Company name] demonstrate that people are important to the company’s success” and “I have confidence in the leaders at [Company name].” The data show lower scores and below‑benchmark results on people‑centric signals and mixed scores on being kept informed, while overall confidence is comparatively higher. Read together, these items point to inconsistent visibility and uneven messaging rather than a single communication gap. The theme reframes the opportunity around clear updates, visible leadership, and behaviors that signal people matter. AI Coach weighs impact ratings, recommended focus areas, and benchmark gaps to prioritize this theme so guidance targets what is most likely to move overall engagement.Coach does not just summarize the whole survey to give you themes; it can help you answer very specific questions about team dynamics, particular topics, or challenges unique to your group.
Example prompts:
What themes do you see in my survey results?
Where are we performing well? Where do we need to improve?
Help me understand my scores about development (theme) - is there anything I’m missing?
What questions are outliers in our results?
Coach, can you highlight any patterns in feedback about recognition and reward (focus area)?
What might the relationship be between [insert first theme] and [insert second theme]?
Can you help me understand why a motivating vision (focus area) matters?
What underlying factors might be driving our low innovation (theme) scores?
From Themes to Actions and Goals
From Themes to Actions and Goals
AI Coach in Surveys combines your survey signals with your context to suggest tailored actions or goals. It considers question and factor scores, impact ratings, Focus Agent recommendations, your role and organization context you provide, plus any additional details you share such as audience, constraints, timing, or stakeholders.
When generating actions or goals, AI Coach in surveys will ask clarifying questions or prompt you to add context. This helps refine recommendations so they fit your situation.
The intent is to turn the most influential drivers into specific, feasible behaviors. You should expect suggestions that:
Focus on areas most likely to influence outcomes rather than isolated low items.
Specify observable behaviors and near-term steps that can be owned and measured.
Right-size effort to your context so actions are realistic for your team’s capacity and timeframes
Encourage feedback loops and visibility of progress so people can see change and adjust if needed.
Example prompts:
Let’s brainstorm actions to improve career opportunities (theme).
AI Coach, what actions could improve collaboration among remote teams (demographic group)?
I want to provide 3 recommended actions (output) to our CPO (audience), on how we can increase confidence in leadership. We have limited budget (context), and actions need to be relevant for our retail workforce (demographic group).
What other actions could I take?
What are different options to measure success?
Provide more context:
Budget is limited (resources)
Focus on actions for the next 90 days (timeframe)
I’m looking to action with my direct team (sphere of control)
Communication
Communication
AI Coach in Surveys can draft messages for different audiences and formats using the themes and actions identified, and any context you share about stakeholders, tone, or communication goals. The approach reflects principles that support buy-in and change:
Transparency and sensemaking: acknowledge what was heard, explain how insights were interpreted, and clarify what will happen next.
Psychological safety and respect: use clear, neutral language that invites participation and reduces defensiveness.
Audience relevance: AI Coach in Surveys is able to adapt emphasis, detail, and tone for leaders, teams, or all-company updates so each group gets what they need to act.
You can request concise executive updates, team summaries, or all-company messages that explain what you learned and what will happen next.
Example prompts:
Write a Teams message (type) summarizing key changes we are planning based on selected focus areas.
Can we role-play a challenging conversation about survey results? For example, addressing low scores (theme) within Sales (demographic group).
I want to communicate progress since our last survey. Can we draft a message that includes improvements and ongoing focus areas?
I'd like a newsletter article (type) for my team (audience), celebrating our strengths and explaining how we plan to address areas like collaboration and communication (focus areas). Can you help me draft this?
What AI Coach Can’t Do
AI Coach is powerful, but it’s not a replacement for human expertise. It’s not designed to:
Replace human judgment – AI Coach gives suggestions, not definitive answers.
Make business or HR decisions – It doesn’t handle compliance, policy, or legal advice.
Provide emotional intelligence – AI Coach can’t offer empathy or adapt in real time during live conversations.
Access company-specific information – It doesn't know your team history, internal policies, or integrated tools.
Handle sensitive situations – For misconduct, legal issues, terminations, or mental health concerns, consult HR or appropriate professionals.
Create inappropriate or harmful content – AI Coach supports constructive, respectful communication only.
➡️ Next Steps:
Start preparing to launch AI Coach. Access the AI launch checklist
Get familiar - start using General AI Coach!
Start planning your AI Coach in Surveys rollout.
Learn about AI Coach in Performance (EAP customers only)
Track Coach adoption with the AI Coach Usage Report
💬 Need help? Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a support conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.