In my last piece, I asked you to imagine the year 2031 and what your business would look like from an AI perspective.

I mentioned chatbots and how they are being used as the first touchpoint for customer engagement by many businesses. It would be prudent to look into developing a chatbot strategy as they have become the most widely used application of artificial intelligence by enterprises due to ease of use and acceptance by consumers.

Imagine that instead of asking Alexa or Siri about the weather or you have a google query, you can now discuss how you feel with one of the machine language AI systems on the market which collates this data and passes it onto your coach.

Before you start your group or 1-2-1 sessions, your AI coach gives you a summary of all of the clients you will be meeting on that day.

You start your session armed with this feedback you have learned and focus on how to help your client get unstuck or maybe role-play how to handle a specific situation.

For instance – your client Maggie is concerned about a proposal that she has submitted and is scared to follow up.  Your AI version of Siri or Alexa suggests some follow up strategies you could discuss during your next session.

Your client James’s smartphone and smartwatch feedback about his diet and lack of rest and raises the question of whether it affects his concentration, ability to get things done, and overall motivation.

Could it be due to his relationships? Your AI coaches recommend you give him an impromptu call and that the subsequent two sessions are away from the office entirely to talk about these matters specifically.

You decide in advance to focus on new habits or routines that he could adopt and suggest walking sessions instead.

While researching this piece, it became clear that this is just the tip of the iceberg. With access to data analysis and decision-making tools, what will give a competitive advantage will be the reliance on the traditional skills of communication, influencing, mentoring and human connection.

I expect that as the machines handle the data the human side of working with people will prevail.

Soulaima Gourani, the co-founder of Women Reignite, said, “AI-enabled coaches won’t be capable of listening, understanding and asking questions like a human coach for at least 10-15 years.”

That said, the key point is to prepare for how different things will be.