Skillsoft launches AI Coach to widen workplace access

Skillsoft has launched AI Coach within its Percipio platform, with the tool available to select customers in early access.

The new coaching product is intended to give employees personalised guidance linked to their role, goals and existing skills development. It sits within Skillsoft's broader skills management system rather than operating as a separate coaching service.

Employers have increased spending on learning, leadership development and workforce planning as they respond to workplace shifts linked to artificial intelligence. Skillsoft is positioning AI Coach as a way to help workers apply training more directly in daily tasks through goal setting, reflection, practice and follow-up across multiple sessions.

The launch reflects a wider push among workplace software providers to connect corporate learning programmes more closely to measurable job performance. Coaching has often been concentrated on senior executives and a small pool of high-potential staff, prompting companies to look for lower-cost ways to widen access.

According to Skillsoft, AI Coach is designed around coaching principles used by the International Coaching Federation, including active listening, reflective questioning, goal setting and accountability. The product is also linked to Skillsoft learning materials and relevant CAISY practice exercises.

Organisations can use the tool to broaden coaching access beyond senior leaders, make training more relevant to specific roles and support ongoing development through repeated reviews of progress and next steps. Employees can return to earlier goals and continue a coaching thread over time rather than treating each interaction as a one-off exchange.

Gina Smith, Research Director at IDC, said the significance of the launch lies in how coaching is being connected to data on skills and learning.

"Most coaching investments to date have been expensive, exec-only programs disconnected from the rest of an organisation's skills and learning strategy. That model doesn't scale, and it doesn't connect to the skills data organisations actually need to act on," said Gina Smith, Research Director at IDC.

"By building AI Coach into a platform that already tracks skills, learning and practice, Skillsoft aims to address a structural gap in how coaching has been delivered, not just add a feature. That's the kind of integration enterprises should be evaluating going forward," Smith added.

Broader access

One of the clearest themes in the launch is access. Executive coaching has long been treated as a premium resource, often delivered by external advisers and reserved for a narrow group of leaders. By embedding an AI-based coaching system inside an existing workplace learning platform, Skillsoft is seeking to make that support available to a wider employee base.

Skillsoft argues that this matters because many organisations already have systems for assigning training and tracking skill gaps, but fewer have practical tools to help workers turn that learning into habits, decisions and performance in their day-to-day roles. AI Coach is intended to fill that gap by tying coaching prompts to what an employee is trying to achieve and the skills they need to build.

Bernie Barbour outlined that position in comments accompanying the launch.

"Every organisation needs people who can build the skills that move the business forward," said Bernie Barbour, Chief Technology and Product Officer at Skillsoft.

"Coaching is one of the most effective ways to help employees develop those skills, but it has traditionally reached only a small part of the workforce. By bringing AI Coach into the Skillsoft platform, we can extend coaching to more employees and leaders, and connect that experience to the skills, learning and practice they need to grow and drive better business outcomes," Barbour said.

Platform strategy

The introduction of AI Coach also underlines Skillsoft's effort to present Percipio as a more integrated workplace development platform. Rather than limiting the product to content delivery, Skillsoft is adding tools aimed at linking assessment, learning resources, practice and coaching into a single workflow.

That approach could appeal to employers trying to justify large training budgets with clearer evidence that learning is being applied on the job. It also places Skillsoft in a crowded market where learning technology providers are increasingly adding AI assistants, recommendations and personalised guidance to strengthen user engagement.

For now, AI Coach is being released to a limited set of customers through an early access programme, giving Skillsoft a controlled setting in which to test adoption before a wider rollout.