With South Africa’s record youth unemployment and limited access to professional coaching, AI-powered coaching may offer a transformative solution.
Professor Nicky Terblanche, Head of Leadership Coaching at Stellenbosch Business School, is pioneering research into how artificial intelligence can support young people and small business owners through accessible, personalised self-development and personal growth.
“AI coaching has the potential to democratise development at scale,” says Prof Terblanche. “For many young South Africans who don’t have access to experienced mentors or career coaches, AI can provide the structured support they need to move forward.”
Unlike traditional mentorship, which typically involves knowledge transfer from an expert to a learner, coaching, particularly in psychological and adult learning contexts, focuses on empowering individuals through self-reflection and solution-oriented thinking.
“The distinction between coaching and mentoring is vital,” explains Terblanche. “Coaching doesn’t tell you what to do. It helps you figure it out for yourself and that leads to longer-term behavioural change.”
Prof Terblanche has done extensive research together with Masters and PhD students, including collaboration with academics in Germany and the USA, and he and his team have developed AI coaching tools, including “Coach Vici,” that combine mentoring elements with scientifically grounded coaching principles.
In a recent peer-reviewed study comparing different chatbot coaching styles, including goal-based, solution-focused, and cognitive behavioural approaches, the cognitive behavioural model emerged as the most effective in developing users’ emotional intelligence.
“This was an unexpected and exciting outcome,” says Terblanche. “It suggests that AI can do more than help people with goal attainment or guide career decisions – it can help users reshape unhelpful thought patterns and build critical soft skills like resilience and emotional intelligence.”
In pilot programmes with young entrepreneurs and SME owners, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Participants received traditional business training followed by chatbot-based coaching support. “They reported feeling more motivated, confident, and supported by a tool available 24/7,” Prof Terblanche says.
However, challenges remain. One concern is that many AI models are trained on global datasets, making them less responsive to the South African cultural context. “We need investment to localise these tools,” says Prof Terblanche. “The appetite is there, but we need public-private partnerships and national funding support to make it truly scalable and locally relevant.”
He urges stakeholders, including the National Skills Fund and Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), to prioritise AI coaching in national development strategies. “This isn’t a future vision – it’s already happening. Coaching Apps are being developed in South Africa, grounded in local research. What we need now is scale.”
As Youth Day approaches, Prof Terblanche calls for a national conversation about how AI can augment, not replace, human development. “We’re not talking about machines taking over,” he says. “We’re talking about tools that can reach the people we’re currently not reaching at all.”
