Digital Coach: What It Means, What It’s For, and Why It’s Important

Wednesday
July
 
2021

We live in an age in which the technologies, processes, and tools at our disposal are changing at an ever-faster pace. For this reason, ongoing training and continuous professional development are essential.  

Let's explore together why a digital coach might be the ideal solution and what qualities they should have.


With a particular focus on digital adoption and the digital transition of businesses, training takes on an even more crucial role—a fact that has been underscored by the circumstances of the past year.

Consequently, it’s only natural to ask: What is the best way to conduct training and professional development within a company?  

Traditional training isn't effective  

First, we must start from the premise that traditional training—understood as theoretical learning based solely on lectures and classroom instruction—is not effective.  

Scientific research has shown that 70% of learning occurs through direct experience and only 10% is theory-based. This means that, even in a virtual setting, we must focus on strategies for learning by doing and unconventional learning (Gartner).  

As the Harvard Business Review also points out in a recent article, simply replicating traditional training methods online is not the right approach: the medium, the dynamics, and the context are different, and digital training is a much more complex matter.  

“What makes prioritizing learning difficult right now is a challenge facing both business leaders and business educators: online learning is much more complicated than simply setting up a Zoom account and carrying on as usual.”

Therefore, to develop an effective training program that can truly bring about change, new approaches and new roles are needed; one of these is the digital coach.  

Digital Coach: Who Is It and What Do They Do?

A digital coach is a professional who operates in the digital and virtual world, capable of developing business strategies and tailored training programs that adapt to the learning needs of individuals and companies.

Shifting toward training that is increasingly focused on the virtual realm can offer many benefits, including:  

  • Greater transparency and performance measurement, from a data-driven perspective;  
  • Modularity and flexibility to adapt not only to people but also to devices and tools;  
  • Involvement and engagement that not only make training easier but also more enjoyable and effective.  

In the case of hi |habit-inspiring platform, the digital coach is an artificial intelligence capable not only of adapting to the virtual work environment but also of designing a training program that leads to behavioral change, helping users build habits that are sustainable over time.

hi | habit-inspiring platform is based on scientific research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. Thanks to principles of behavioral design—such as the “nudge”— hi is able to train every single person in the company in an unconventional way, adapting to each individual’s needs and following specific coaching plans, including those tailored to their unique circumstances.  

In conclusion, it’s important to remember that using a SaaS platform for training in your company doesn’t mean placing less importance on people; on the contrary, it means supporting them even more in their full professional development of both hard and soft skills.

Using a virtual digital coach allows for a personalized approach to each individual, regardless of their digital literacy or the time they have available—this way, people truly become the focus of corporate training!