When Human Wisdom Meets Artificial Intelligence: My Journey to the NYU Coaching & Technology Summit

Attending the Coaching & Technology Summit at New York University in June 2026 was one of those experiences that stretches you professionally, challenges your thinking and leaves you returning home with far more questions than answers—in the best possible way.

It was my first visit to New York, and simply walking into NYU’s Kimmel Center felt significant. There I was, a South African coach, facilitator, mBIT Coach and Trainer, and founder of CoachGuide™, surrounded by leading academics, researchers, technologists and coaching professionals from across the world. Wow!

I felt incredibly honoured to be there, listening to brilliant minds exploring the future of coaching and the rapidly evolving role of technology. At the same time, I would not be completely honest if I did not admit that I experienced a little imposter syndrome. 

While listening to conversations about artificial intelligence, coaching research and technological innovation, a quiet voice inside me occasionally whispered, “Yolandi, are you sure you belong in this room?”

Thankfully, that voice did not have the final word.

From the moment I arrived, every person I met made me feel completely at home. I was welcomed with warm smiles, genuine interest and open, meaningful conversations. People were curious about South Africa, my journey as a coach and, particularly, CoachGuide™. 

There was great enthusiasm when I explained that CoachGuide™ is a first-of-its-kind coaching CRM system, created by a coach, specifically for coaches. The interest in its purpose, development and potential was both humbling and encouraging. What touched me most was how willing people were to listen, exchange ideas and explore the possibilities together.

Their warmth reminded me that belonging is not about entering a room with all the answers. It is about arriving with a willingness to learn, the courage to contribute and something meaningful to share.

Of course, another voice inside me also said, “Yolandi, you have travelled all the way from South Africa. You may as well stay, connect and absorb every possible moment!”

And that is exactly what I did. 

The future is not human connection or technology 

One of the strongest insights I took from the summit was that the future of coaching is not about choosing between human connection and technology. It is about finding the right relationship between them. 

Technology should never replace our presence, intuition, empathy or professional judgement. These deeply human qualities are what make coaching personal, meaningful and transformational.

However, technology can support the coaching relationship. It can create continuity between sessions, improve accessibility, provide structure, encourage accountability and reduce the administrative burden carried by coaches. 

The question is therefore not whether technology belongs in coaching. It is already here. 

Artificial intelligence is not waiting politely outside the coaching room for us to decide whether we are ready for it. It has already entered the building and it appears to have brought its laptop, charger and a very impressive vocabulary! 

As coaches, we cannot afford to ignore technology. At the same time, we should not embrace every new tool without careful consideration. Our responsibility is to remain curious about innovation while continuing to protect confidentiality, professional ethics, appropriate boundaries and the individuality of every client. Technology should support the coach and the client. It should not take ownership of the relationship between them. 

AI has a very clever head, but what about the heart and gut?

As an mBIT coach and trainer, I found myself viewing many of the summit discussions through a head-heart-gut lens.

Artificial intelligence is incredibly capable, but it has largely been designed from a “head-brain” or cognitive perspective. It processes enormous amounts of information, identifies patterns, analyses language and generates structured responses at remarkable speed. It can organise, summarise, calculate and offer ideas, often before most of us have finished making our first cup of coffee. 

But human beings are not purely cognitive. 

Through mBIT, we recognise the distinct intelligence associated with the head, heart and gut. Our decisions, relationships and personal transformations are influenced not only by facts and logic, but also by our emotions, values, compassion, identity, courage, intuition and instinct. 

This is my personal perspective, but I do not believe technology will ever fully replace the pure human contribution of the heart and gut brains. AI may be able to recognise the language of empathy, but it does not feel another person’s pain. It may identify patterns associated with uncertainty, but it does not experience the sensation in the gut that tells us something is not aligned. It may respond to a client’s words, but it cannot authentically sit with another human being and sense the weight of what remains unspoken. 

As coaches, we do not only listen to words. We listen to pauses, changes in tone, hesitation and energy. We notice when a client says, “I’m fine,” while everything else about them communicates that they are not fine at all. We also bring our humanity into the coaching space. Our presence, personal values, deep empathy, intuition and instinct allow us to connect with another person in a way that goes beyond information processing. 

These qualities are not weaknesses that technology needs to correct. They are what set us apart. 

Where CoachGuide™ fits into this future 

The summit gave me an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the purpose of CoachGuide™ and the role it can play in the future of coaching. 

CoachGuide™ is not designed to create an extra task in your practice. It is designed to support coaches so that we can spend less time managing fragmented administration and more time being fully present with our clients. 

Technology can help us maintain professional records, track goals, support accountability, monitor development, manage coaching journeys and create continuity between sessions. It can provide the structure surrounding the coaching relationship without attempting to become the relationship. 

That distinction is extremely important to me. 

CoachGuide™ was developed from a genuine understanding of what coaches need. As it continues to grow, I want it to remain grounded in the realities and responsibilities of professional coaching: confidentiality, ethical practice, reflection, professional development and authentic human connection. 

Innovation should make coaching more effective, accessible and sustainable. It should not strip coaching of its humanity. 

The enthusiastic response CoachGuide™ received at the summit affirmed that there is a real need for technology developed specifically for the coaching profession. It was incredibly rewarding to see people recognise its potential and to hear their questions, ideas and encouragement. 

For me, it was also a reminder that something created from a very real need can travel far beyond its original starting point, even all the way from South Africa to New York. 

Bringing global insights home 

I returned to South Africa feeling energised, grateful and deeply humbled. 

I may have entered the summit questioning whether I belonged among so many brilliant minds, but I left knowing that every person has a role to play in shaping the future of coaching. We each bring a different perspective, area of expertise and lived experience to the conversation.

I am passionate about sharing these global insights with our South African and international coaching communities. When we learn together, explore technology together and speak honestly about both its opportunities and its risks, we strengthen the credibility and sustainability of coaching as a profession. 

We do not need to compete with technology, and we should not pretend that it is going away. We need to move forward with it, wisely, ethically and courageously. 

The future of coaching is not about choosing human connection over artificial intelligence, or artificial intelligence over human connection. It is about using technological advancement to make the human coaching experience even better. 

AI may offer us an extraordinarily powerful cognitive brain, but we must continue bringing the heart, the gut and the deeply human wisdom that no system can authentically replicate.  

That, I believe, is where the true future of coaching lies.