AI, Strategy and the Messy Middle: Why Coaching Still Matters

I Used AI to Plan 2026…and It Turns Out I’m Still Very Much Needed

Last week, in my first week back at work for 2026, I did something that would have sounded ridiculous when I first started coaching and strategy work:

I sat down with my AI agent, James – my Strategic Navigator, and together we co-created my 2026 business blueprint.

Within a few focused hours, I had:

• a clear strategic framework

• key themes and priorities with actionable tasks

• measurable success metrics

• an annual calendar of milestones mapped around key events

I’ve been coaching and crafting strategic plans for a very long time. I’ve been using AI as an integral part of my work for over a year, but this week I took it to a whole new level.

And it raised a big question for those of us who earn a living with our brains and time – coaches, consultants and advisors:

AI is here. Our clients are already using it. So where does that leave us?

The Shift That’s Already Happening

Where people once might have thought, “I need a coach or consultant to help me with this.”

They’re now opening a browser tab and prompting AI:

• “Help me create my 2026 plan.”

• “Help me map out my service offering.”

• “Help me write a design brief for my new brand.”

And to be fair, AI can do all of those things… to a point.

Over the next 12 months, this is only going to accelerate. Those of us in “thinking work” are on the front line of this shift.

What AI Is Brilliant At

• Structure – turning a pile of thoughts into a neat, organised framework

• Speed – exploring multiple options in minutes

• Synthesis – combining ideas, patterns and research

• Translation – turning what’s in your head into words: brand language, copy, briefs, frameworks

Used well, it’s like having a fast-thinking junior intern on tap.

I use it. I value it. It makes aspects of my work faster and more fun.

But there is a line it simply can’t cross. And that’s where my real work, human work continues to bring enormous value.

Where Quality Coaching and Strategic Guidance with a Human Is Still The Only Way To Go

AI cannot sit across from you (or on Zoom) and feel what’s happening in the space between us.

It cannot:

• hear the shift in your voice when we land on something true

• notice your shoulders collapse when you talk about an option

• ask the uncomfortable question at exactly the right moment

• hold you in the rawness of your vulnerabilities

It cannot walk you through:

• a health scare, relationship ending or major life-altering decision

• finding the courage to address something big you’ve been avoiding

• understanding how an option really feels or aligns with a deeper, soul-led sense of purpose

• Finding your way through healing and real behaviour change that changes everything

That work is relational. It’s embodied. It’s nuanced. Its profoundly human.

A Real Client in a Real Transition – A Collaboration between Client, Coach and AI

Here’s a client story from my practice that shows how this plays out.

A woman came to me with:

• over 30 years in her field

• a strong reputation and long waitlists

• a sense that something needed to shift in this next chapter

• an inner calling to step into her life’s work

From the outside, her next step looked obvious. On the inside, there were layers.

She didn’t want to burn it all down. She wanted to refine and focus:

• specialise more clearly

• create a brand and platform that matched who she is now

• design high-value, carefully structured services to see her through the rest of her career

So we brought both of my worlds to the table: 25+ years of coaching and strategy, and my AI intern.

Where AI Helped – and Where It Didn’t

We used AI to:

• sketch out a strategic blueprint using real context mined from hours of deep conversation

• draft a brand and website brief that captured her positioning, based on that clear strategic foundations

We moved quickly because we weren’t starting from a blank page.

AI gave us options, language and structure we could then refine. It was a three-way co-creation.

But alongside the documents and plans, something else was happening:

• she was shedding an old self-identity

• she was moving through major personal changes that needed to be integrated

• she was preparing to be more visible and more defined than she’d ever been

AI did not hold her through that. That was our work together.

The Human Work Underneath the Strategy

My role as her coach was to:

• hold a calm, grounded space while everything else felt in flux

• help her move through fear, grief, excitement and doubt

• question the stories quietly running the show

• pace the process so it was sustainable

• hold the process and her true to her deepest yearning

We moved between:

• inner work and identity

• strategy, offers and positioning

• very practical decisions about money, time and energy

We also had to navigate a common gap: the space between the client’s inner vision and the creative team (brand, web, design).

Being the Glue Between the Client, AI and the Creatives

In this project, I became the bridge between:

• her deeper vision and values

• the AI-generated drafts and ideas

• the brand designer and web developer

My job was to make sure:

• her brand and website didn’t turn into a generic template

• her services were designed in a way that respected her energy and stage of life

• the language sounded like her

• she didn’t get overwhelmed or bulldosed by jargon, decisions and tech

Creatives are brilliant at visuals, structure and building, but they are not responsible for:

• processing the emotions of a major life and career transition

• holding someone while they step into a more visible version of themselves

• making sure everything remains aligned with the dream'

  That where where the coach in the middle brings the magic.

Where We Landed

By the end of our work together, she had:

• a brand and website that feels like a timeless, honest expression of who she is and a platform to build from

• a strategic plan that supports her next chapter

• the internal readiness to fully step into that chapter

She didn’t just get a plan. She got a transition. A recalibration. A next version of herself to grow into.

AI was on the team - but not leading the process.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

Coaches and consultants who ignore AI entirely will get left behind.

But AI will not replace the real human work of coaching and strategy: the relationship, the depth, the reflection, the brave conversations and the no-bullshit honesty.

The opportunity is to let AI handle the mechanical work – the structure, the drafts, the options – so we can go deeper into the work only humans can do.

That messy middle? That’s still ours.