Consulting bots and fee reductions in times of exec coaching wars | Today’s news

India’s executive coaching industry is crowded with top professionals turning to them for advice on managing career challenges and navigating the journey. A wave of new entrants and platforms that make it easier to find trainers is forcing them to compete harder for clients and increasingly on fees. And now artificial intelligence (AI) has brought a real revolution – people are increasingly happy to turn to robots for advice.

“India’s coaching industry is growing rapidly and brings intense competition, especially among new coaches entering the profession. During corporate bulk orders, price often becomes a key factor,” said executive coach Sanjeev Bhatia, who is also president of the Mumbai charter chapter of the International Coach Federation (ICF). “While experienced coaches command premium fees based on expertise, credentials and track record, newer coaches may offer lower fees for securing assignments and accumulating coaching hours required for higher level credentials.”

The ICF is one of the bodies that offer credentials to coaches. To become an authorized coach, experts must complete a set number of hours of coaching and log work and then pass a test. There are various trainer designations; To move up in the hierarchy, more hours need to be registered along with tests.

So, what do coaches do? They listen, ask questions, and challenge assumptions to help leaders reach their own insights, build confidence, and make better decisions, rather than offering short-term fixes.

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The demand for coaches comes at a time when companies are finding it difficult to retain senior talent, even in a relatively cold job market. As wage growth moderates, retention strategies increasingly include coaching sessions. And as businesses become more complex, today’s companies need top managers who are focused on results but also aware of their own blind spots.

Coaching can be sponsored by a company or an individual, and coaches come from a variety of fields. While there are middle managers who have retired or completed their professional careers and become coaches, younger managers are now using coaching as a career option.

Price tag

Such leadership carries a heavy price. The CXO trainer can charge from anywhere ₹50,000 up to ₹1 lakh per hour and sometimes more. However, trainers who are new to the industry are charged much lower to log more hours, which helps them become more experienced. Over the past five years, many executives have left the industry to become coaches; their initial fees can be as low as ₹8000-10000 per hour.

“As coaching evolves, new modules and AI enhancements help scale coaching to make it more accessible and impact more people,” the ICF said in an emailed response to Mint. However, he did not detail the number of coaches in India with their credentials.

Senior coaches like Alinaa Menon, founder of True North Coaching Academy, say that the credibility of a coach becomes key in the selection process “With many coaches on the scene: some certified, some credentialed and some ‘self-proclaimed’, coaching fees are dropping fast…,” she said. “Businesses are starting to recognize this difference quite well. As with any product, when supply is greater than demand, fees are most affected and quality specifications are compromised.”

According to senior trainers Mint spoke to, some have been forced to recalibrate their fees to adapt to changes in the market.

Some trainers run their own training and mapping companies. In the first case, aspiring trainers are trained before taking the certification test; in the latter, clients register with their requirements and are paired with a suitable coach.

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Rajat Garg co-founded two such firms: Coach-To-Transformation, a B2C firm that trains and certifies coaches prior to ICF accreditation, and Meeraq, a B2B platform that connects coaches with companies and leaders.

Meeraq is about four years old and has 3,000 commission-based trainers on its platform. Coach-To-Transformation had just 20-25 participants for 2016; it now enrolls approximately 500 executives annually. The three- to four-month course to become a coach costs ₹1.65 lakhs plus GST.

The challenge is manifold. “On the one hand, clients are increasingly asking for lower fees, and while AI has yet to threaten the coaching world, we’re not far from the day when a bot can read a client’s emotions and facial patterns better than a human coach,” Garg said.

In addition to price wars, AI is a real looming threat as clients may choose to find solutions through a bot or AI agent rather than reaching out to a coach. On the other hand, some trainers are already using AI for their initial rounds with clients.

Debeshi Chakraborty, an executive coach, said the coaching industry has become more mature and competitive, with a wide range of players – from executive coaching firms and AI coaching platforms to independent coaches and specialists working with emerging groups such as Gen Z.

“AI is increasingly becoming a part of organizational coaching, especially in longer-term programs. For example, when engaging in 10 sessions, AI can help with initial goal setting, identifying the right coaches to match those goals, and checking in between sessions,” said Chakraborty, who is also the founder of leadership development company Dezinecareers.

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The pandemic was a key factor in opening up coaching as a career option amid job disruptions and demand for online services. Coaching can be one-on-one and in many cases also group sessions.

“Today, the coaching we do is in-person and online, with about 200 people attending each program. Our basic course ‘The Landmark Forum’ is three and a half days long with an optional four-month follow-up seminar, all for a price of approx ₹25,000 per person,” said Gopal Rao, Landmark Worldwide’s program head and head of India operations. Landmark Worldwide focuses on personal and professional development.