This October, I’ll be on stage at the 2025 Columbia University Coaching Conference in NYC debuting something I’ve been developing for months: the Hybrid Intelligence Coaching Framework™ (HICF).
Here’s the simple version, in my words:
HICF™ is a proprietary coaching model that pairs a human coach’s unique capabilities such as judgment, empathy, and presence with AI’s speed and range- ethically and efficiently. In HICF™, the coach stands between the client and the model as a filter. That middle role helps minimize things like reinforcing old thinking, historical/confirmation bias, hallucinations and false certainty, privacy exposure, and context-blind, one-size-fits-all advice. It also treats prompt engineering as a modern coaching competency which is a skill coaches will need going forward so AI supports the work without replacing the human connection, intuition, and presence that make coaching transformative.
Why this matters
More people are turning to AI for advice, coaching, even therapy. I understand the appeal. I also see the risk of skipping the humans who matter: friends, family, mentors, and trained professionals. When we remove the coach from a coaching partnership, we lose relationship, nuance, and human connection. HICF™ is my “both/and” answer: use AI where it helps, with a coach safeguarding context, ethics, and meaning.
What changes when a coach is the filter?
- Less bias, more relevance. We reduce recycled patterns and “sounds right, but isn’t.”
- Better questions = better outcomes. Coach-shaped prompts open new perspectives, not just longer answers.
- Privacy and ethics stay in the room. Sensitive topics get handled intentionally.
- Human connection remains central. Empathy and intuition aren’t features; they’re lived experiences.
What I’ll share at Columbia
At the conference, I’ll walk through the HICF™ model, show a practice demo comparing generic prompts (when client interacts directly with the model) vs. coach-shaped prompts (client interacts directly with the coach who is filtering & writing a prompt), and offer early takeaways for executives and teams. I’m keeping the deep dive for the room in October. Then I’ll release the paper and share practical next steps for coaches and leaders who want to apply this work.
A personal note
This project has a lot of my heart in it. I’ve spent countless hours researching, testing, and writing and this is just the beginning. After Columbia, I’ll keep expanding the research, tools, and training so our field can use AI responsibly without losing what makes coaching human.
If you’ll be at the conference, I’d love to connect.
Event info & registration: www.columbiacoachingconference.org
Want the paper when it’s published and public? Keep an eye on this website after October 14th! I’ll link it here as soon as it’s live.
Hybrid Intelligence Coaching Framework™ (HICF) is a trademark I’m using in connection with my research and executive coaching work.
