An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Expect to see a rise in AI in coaching. We’ve seen a lot of research and prototypes, such as CoachHub’s AIMY™, and soon we’ll see the real impact of this technology on the industry.
The world of coaching is undergoing a seismic shift, with emerging trends set to redefine its boundaries and possibilities. From digital transformation and the integration of artificial intelligence to the growing emphasis on mental health and the global rise of coaching cultures within organizations, these developments are reshaping the landscape of personal and professional growth. As we navigate through these changes, understanding the forces that drive the future of coaching becomes paramount. I had the pleasure of interviewing Matti Niebelschuetz.
Bio: Matti Niebelschütz is co-founder and CEO of CoachHub, the leading global digital coaching platform, funded with over $330M from leading investors including Sofina and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and operated by a passionate team of 600 people from over 50 nations on a mission to democratize coaching worldwide. Matti has been named Top40 Under 40 by Capital Magazine. He is a serial entrepreneur and former McKinsey management consultant with 15 years of experience in Future of Work, startups and digital business building.
Thank you for joining us. To start, could you share your “origin story” with our readers? How did you begin your coaching journey, and what challenges did you face in the early days?
My brother and I started a business together early in our careers. Back then, as a first-time manager and first-time founder, I was completely overwhelmed by having to manage everything from high-level business strategy to administrative tasks. To help us overcome these challenges and work out the kinks, we hired an experienced business coach to support us with our management and leadership styles, time prioritization, and other important details. After exiting that business, the power of that transformative coaching experience stayed with us, and my brother and I ended up reuniting as business partners once again to spread this transformative experience with the goal of democratizing coaching for all employment levels with the CoachHub platform. I still have a business coach to this day — it’s one of the employee perks of working at CoachHub because we really practice what we preach: The democratization of coaching helps individuals and organizations as a whole achieve their goals.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The three character traits most important to my success have been ambition, focus and perseverance:
Ambition — For me as a leader, it is paramount to have a high level of ambition. There is nothing more inspiring for the team and me than breaking boundaries to make the seemingly impossible possible and to pioneer the future. We launched CoachHub with the objective of making coaching accessible to employees of all levels and all careers. Previously, coaching had been a privilege almost exclusively for the executive level. In the early days, many people told us that such an industry shift would be impossible, but solving that challenge became our mission. While we’re still a long way off from fully realizing such a shift, we’re headed in the right direction.
Focus — There are a million things begging for our attention as leaders, whether they be opportunities to take or challenges to solve. At the same time, it is absolutely mission-critical to prioritize and focus. I still remember the early days, sitting in my brother’s living room, doing rigorous prioritization as we launched the business. We decided to put a blank sheet of paper on the wall and highlight our top three priorities. We landed on the following:
- 1. Build a minimum-viable-product.
- 2. Onboard the first 30 top business coaches.
- 3. Win our first ten clients.
Until these objectives were met, we did nothing else. Though we’ve evolved far past this sheet of paper on the wall, we still have our annual top company objectives as a global organization today, and those objectives act as the North Star for the entire organization.
Perseverance — The road to success is paved with obstacles to overcome. Sometimes the journey is easy and success feels very tangible, and other times it can be overwhelming and many might want to give up. As a leader and entrepreneur, I am convinced that perseverance pays off. After each challenge we overcome, there is an even brighter reward. I remember after the initial success in my early career as founder, I had a difficult period with many ventures I started not paying off and having little money to live from. Despite everything, giving up was not an option for me. Today, we are creating an impact at CoachHub at levels unimaginable to me before, and I am deeply grateful for that.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“Life is too short to do something that is not meaningful to you” — This might not be a direct quote, but I use it at many public speaking occasions, and it means a lot to me. It reminds me of a lesson once taught by Hindu priest Dandapani about how our life on earth is limited. This understanding helps me to set priorities in life. I see many people following their careers or striving for an uncertain target as if it were a burden to carry rather than an opportunity. Instead of living on auto-pilot, I believe in making conscious decisions for our lives — every single day!
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
There are two projects at CoachHub that are most exciting to me at the moment. The fist one is the expansion of our global coaching community. Our 3.500 coaches worldwide are outstanding, positive, inspiring individuals to collaborate with, and that number is only growing! The second project is leveraging AI for the benefit of all. There is rapid development in technology that is paving the way for exciting new opportunities for our vision to democratize coaching and our industry as a whole.
Without saying any names, could you share a particularly memorable success story from your coaching career?
A few years ago, during a stressful period at work, my wife pointed out to me that I wasn’t being my true self. At work, I was struggling to steer my priorities and manage my emotions, and even worse, at home I wasn’t the husband and family dad I wanted to be. It was my coach who then helped me overcome these challenges so I could better balance my stress and become the version of myself that I intended to be. This experience taught me that coaching can be transformative to your success at work and in life.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about coaching. How has your approach to coaching evolved over the years, and what personal learnings have you applied to your own development?
My approach to coaching hasn’t changed — it still involves partnering with clients to help them reflect on themselves, their situation and context and identify new insights and actions to unlock potential, enhance wellbeing and improve performance. What has changed, however, is how we have perceived the need for coaching throughout the years, first with post-pandemic adjustments, then with more companies investing in sustainable transformation and all the associated changes, and, most recently, looking at the exponential growth of AI and adapting to that.
Through all the changes and consistencies, the most important personal lesson I’ve learned has been that running a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to balance our energy to consistently succeed.
How do you incorporate feedback into your coaching practice to continuously improve?
An integral part of coaching is reflection, and coachees’ reflections often produce valuable feedback the coach can work with to adjust the content of coaching sessions to best support the coachee’s needs and goals. CoachHub goes beyond just digital coaching — it combines the science of coaching with the scalability, security and measurability of synchronous personal online coaching. This strategy is further enhanced by complementary asynchronous personalized learning content and an AI coaching companion that supports people development and well-being.
Can you discuss an innovation in coaching that you believe is currently underappreciated but has the potential to significantly impact the field?
AI is a huge topic, but there’s hesitation around it because there are more questions than answers about it at this time. In that sense, I think it’s being underappreciated for its potential. AI will help scale coaching, make it more accessible and also elevate the journey with additional development opportunities between coaching sessions.
In what ways can coaching address the evolving mental health needs of diverse populations in a digitally connected world?
Digital coaching can improve employee experiences by equipping employees with actionable strategies to reduce burnout and stress levels and enhance well-being and productivity. Comprehensive coaching programs empower employees to manage stress effectively, enhancing their overall health and their job performance.
How do you foresee artificial intelligence and machine learning transforming the coaching industry in the next decade?
AI has the potential to revolutionize the coaching industry by streamlining administrative tasks and empowering coaches to deliver more tailored coaching by leveraging data insights. However, the human connection inherent in a coaching relationship will remain paramount — AI can augment and enrich the coaching experience, but will never replace, human coaches.
What role do you believe ethical considerations and privacy concerns will play in the future of coaching, especially with the increased use of digital platforms?
The increased use of digital platforms will put ethical considerations and privacy concerns under a microscope, leading to them playing an even more prominent role in the future of coaching. As with any technology, it’s critical that robust security processes are in place to keep users’ information safe
Could you list and briefly explain “Top 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Coaching” based on your experiences and insights? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
1 . Expect to see a rise in AI in coaching. We’ve seen a lot of research and prototypes, such as CoachHub’s AIMY™, and soon we’ll see the real impact of this technology on the industry.
2 . The L&D industry will increasingly mature toward impact and efficiency measurements, so being able to show clear proofpoints and impact data of coaching will be top of mind for those leveraging it for their employees.
3 . Digital is becoming the new normal for coaching solutions. It’s important to note that digital is not replacing in-person coaching but rather multiplying the markets and increasing accessibility.
4 . Coaching audiences will broaden across career levels as new solutions like group coaching and AI-powered coaching enhance offerings and make them more available throughout organizations.
5 . Organizations will increasingly leverage coaching solutions to assist with change management to help workforces adapt more rapidly to the ever-evolving business landscape.
How do you envision the integration of coaching within organizational cultures changing the landscape of leadership and employee development?
The rise of digital is democratizing coaching. Though it was once considered a perk exclusively for leadership, organizations are increasingly seeing the value of offering coaching opportunities to employees at all levels, from new hires to c-suite.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the coaching industry today, and how might we overcome it?
I’ve already touched on this, but coaching’s biggest challenge is proving its ROI. However, as technology continues to develop, leaders will have access to tangible data that proves the value of coaching solutions.
What is one long-term goal you have for your coaching practice, and how are you working towards it?
At CoachHub, we believe in the democratization of coaching, and offering digital solutions improves accessibility for everyone in an organization, including frontline workers who have traditionally been left out of coaching opportunities. As more employees within an organization work with coaches, leaders can ensure company-wide goals are being taken into consideration as employees work on their own development. Goal alignment is crucial to organizational success, and digital coaching opportunities can help ensure that everyone knows their part and their impact on the business’s long-term viability.
Thank you for offering such valuable insights into the future of coaching. We look forward to seeing your work continue to reach new heights, and we wish you continued success.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Matti Niebelschuetz Of CoachHub On The Top 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Coaching was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.