Augmenting BetterUp Coaches with GPT
BetterUp
The real upside is not replacing coaches, it is turning each coach into a higher output worker inside a software system. BetterUp already sells a mix of live sessions, messaging, content, and scheduling, and it has a network of 3,000 plus coaches serving 600 organizations. If AI handles prep, follow ups, role play, and between session support, BetterUp can raise coach capacity, improve margins, and make coaching feel more like an always on product than a calendar event.
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BetterUp has already been moving in this direction. Its 2025 product updates added AI Coach in Slack and Teams, roleplay with instant feedback, calendar based prompts, and unified reporting across AI and human coaching. That shows the company is operationalizing AI around the coach workflow, not waiting for a fully autonomous coach.
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The economic logic is straightforward. BetterUp sells subscriptions that include limited monthly sessions, while traditional executive coaching can cost roughly $2,000 to $3,000 per session. Any tool that lets a coach prepare faster, draft exercises, summarize sessions, and support clients between calls helps BetterUp deliver more touch points without paying for a full extra live session each time.
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This also creates an expansion path into broader corporate training. U.S. companies spent more than $100B on training in 2021 and 2022, while more recent industry data shows hours of training per employee have fallen. BetterUp can use AI assisted coaching to cover more employees and more day to day development moments, which makes it look less like a niche coaching vendor and more like a wider L&D platform.
The next step is a blended model where human coaches handle trust, judgment, and high stakes conversations, while AI covers repetition, practice, and in the moment nudges. If BetterUp keeps embedding coaching into Slack, Teams, calendars, and HR systems, it can grow from a session marketplace into the operating layer for employee development.