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In the age of AI, we need coaches more than ever
By Jim Knight
Categories: Coaching, TechnologyAugust 2025
The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution may be the greatest technological breakthrough of our lives. Someday, in the not-too-distant future, we may look back on this time and see the invention of AI as more significant than the invention of computers, the internet, or perhaps even the printing press. AI is already transforming many aspects of our lives, helping us find highly efficient, inexpensive ways to do many tasks. The AI revolution is also transforming education. As a result many leaders, facing budget constraints, are looking toward AI as a way to save money while still promoting better teaching and better learning. One way leaders may be tempted to cut costs is to try to replace coaches with AI. I have studied coaching for 25 years,
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References
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Heifetz, R.A. & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line: Staying alive through the dangers of leading. Harvard Business Review Press.
Knight, J. (2018). The impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful improvements in teaching. Corwin Press.
Knight, J., Campbell, J., & van Nieuwerburgh, C. (2025). Ask more, tell less: How to structure learning conversations. The Learning Professional, 46(1), 26-29.
Murgia, M. (2024). Code dependent: Living in the shadow of AI. Henry Holt and Company.
Pink, D.H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Riverhead Books.
Rogers, C.R. (1980). A way of being. Houghton Mifflin.
Shehabi, A., Newkirk, A., Smith, S.J., Hubbard, A., Lei, N., Siddik, M.A.B., Holecek, B., Koomey, J., Masanet, E., & Sartor, D. (2024). 2024 United States data center energy usage report [LBNL-2001637]. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. tinyurl.com/jat7n2u6
Jim Knight, senior partner of Instructional Coaching Group, is a research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. He has spent more than two decades studying instructional coaching, writing several books on the topic. Knight also leads the Intensive Instructional Coaching Institutes and the Teaching Learning Coaching annual conference. Knight has presented and consulted in more than 40 states, most Canadian provinces, and around the world. He has also won several university teaching, innovation, and service awards.
Categories: Coaching, Technology
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