The AI Notetaker Dilemma in Executive Coaching:
The Sanctity of the Coaching Container vs. The Efficiency of AI
I was recently on an executive coaching call with a senior legal counsel client when they asked a simple, yet highly disruptive question: “Are you using an AI notetaker or transcriber?”
My immediate answer? Absolutely not.
I would never record a coaching call without asking permission, and frankly, I have historically shied away from doing so even with permission. I treat one-on-one executive coaching as a highly confidential safe space. In my view, the presence of an AI notetaker violates that privacy. While AI tools are powerful and incredibly useful for team meetings, strategy sessions, and creative ideation, I believed executive coaching was the rare exception where the risks simply outweighed the rewards.
Of course, if the coachee wants to use a notetaker to record our session for their own benefit, that is another story. I am there in service to the client, and if summarizing our conversation benefits them, they should absolutely use the tool. But as the coach, having an AI recording in the background made me fundamentally uncomfortable.
I was certain my peers and clients would agree that the coaching container must remain completely sealed. To test my hypothesis, I posted a poll on LinkedIn asking: “What’s your take on AI notetakers for executive coaching?”.
The results shocked me.
The Data: Efficiency Over Privacy
While the sample size of 25 is relatively small, the sentiment was loud and clear:
40% voted "Yes - The insights are worth it"
32% voted "Only if the client asks for it"
20% voted "No AI - Keep it 100% private"
8% voted "Other"
Only 20% of respondents were opposed to using an AI notetaker for something as sensitive as executive coaching.
When I analyzed the data by the respondents' job titles, a clear pattern emerged. Executive coaches and CHROs favored keeping the space 100% private. However, operational leaders like COOs, CIOs, and CEOs heavily favored the use of AI.
My Pivot: Updating the Operating System
This data forced me to confront a hard truth: I was projecting my own views onto others.
My primary goal in coaching is to create a safe space where vulnerabilities can be exposed so clients can truly open up. I assumed AI eroded that safety. But what I am learning is that modern executives view the risks as minimal compared to the massive rewards of having clear summaries, tracked insights, and actionable outputs from our calls.
This feedback is shifting my approach. Going forward, I will proactively ask each coaching client if they would like me to use an AI notetaker, or if they prefer to use one themselves for our calls.
We will see what these summaries yield and how this technology shifts our coaching engagements. My hope is that the presence of a digital scribe doesn’t censor these vital conversations in any way.
Now that the market has spoken, the next big question for the coaching industry isn't if we should use AI, but rather: Which AI notetaker do we use and trust?
