CoachHub is a leading global talent development platform that enables organizations to create a personalized, measurable, and scalable coaching program for the entire workforce, regardless of department and seniority level. Pulse 2.0 interviewed CoachHub SVP of Data and Insights Pedro Cabrera to learn more.
Pedro Cabrera’s Background
Cabrera has a degree in Computer Engineering and started his professional journey at a consulting company that allowed him to establish a solid foundation in strategy and process improvement. Cabrera said:
“Later on, I spent ten years at Tenaris, an engineering company specializing in the development of pipes and services for the oil and gas industry. During my time at Tenaris, I had the opportunity to assume different roles and work on various projects. These included implementing the SAP system in multiple plants around the world and integrating the industrial system at a brand-new plant in Bay City, Texas in the US to make the production of pipes fully automatic without any human intervention. Additionally, I worked in the field of business intelligence and data science to reduce maintenance costs across Tenaris’ 43 globally-dispersed plants.”
“In 2019, my wife and I decided to relocate to Berlin, Germany, where I soon had the chance to join CoachHub. I was tasked with building the data and insights department from the ground up. Over the past four years, I’ve established data analytics and artificial intelligence infrastructure from scratch and led a team of over 30 individuals.”
“My team and I have created algorithms for matching, content recommendations, and personalization that enhance our users’s experiences. We also introduced CoachHub Insights this year, which is a new analytical product that offers valuable information to our clients. Additionally, we launched AIMY, the world’s first chat and voice AI coach, powered by cutting-edge technology.”
“During my initial three years at CoachHub, our main objective was to lay the foundation for business growth and informed decision-making through data-driven approaches. Over the next three years, our aim is to harness artificial intelligence to streamline internal operations and further elevate the user experience for our clients.”
“As the Senior Vice President of Data & Insights at CoachHub, I have had the opportunity to build and lead a team of experts in data engineering, business intelligence, machine learning, data science and data product management.”
“When I joined the company in 2019, I was responsible for developing the data and insights team and implementing data infrastructure from the ground up. Now that my team and the technology are more mature, I’m focusing more on team guidance and problem-solving as issues pop up. My vision for my team’s success sits at the heart of everything I do. I use that vision as a framework to enable my team to do its best, most efficient work and maximize their potential.”
“One of my team’s main goals is leveraging technology to facilitate an amazing user experience for all stakeholders. Since we are responsible for all machine learning models, analytics solutions and integrations between enterprise applications, we can establish CoachHub at the forefront of data-driven decision-making. My team and I are committed to driving innovation and success for our organization through cutting-edge data solutions.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges you face in your day-to-day operations? Cabrera acknowledged:
“Since day one, we’ve recognized that ML and AI play crucial roles in enhancing user experience. That’s why, over the past few years, we’ve dedicated investments toward creating robust data models that have formed the foundation of our transition into becoming a data-driven company. Now, our focus is on utilizing these advancements to create an exceptional user experience through AI. The primary challenge lies in crafting AI-driven solutions that are both user-friendly and intuitive to ensure easy adoption and use.”
Core Products
What are CoachHub’s core products and features? Cabrera explained:
“CoachHub is, at its core, a digital coaching platform featuring diverse coaches from around the world. We use technology to digitally match coaches with coachees that are a good fit based on what they hope to gain from their coaching experience.”
“The platform has three main components:
— Video conferencing and the associated functionality necessary to digitally connect the coaches and ‘coachees.’
— Assessments embedded in the platform for the coachee to identify priorities, like what skills they want to develop. We leverage the insights from these assessments to match coachees with coaches.
— CoachHub Academy, an e-learning platform we launched last year with additional resources for coachees. AI can recommend exercises or materials aligned with individuals’ goals to augment their coaching sessions.
All these factors work together to provide the best experience possible for the coachee while providing support from all angles.”
Evolution Of CoachHub’s Technology
How has CoachHub’s technology evolved since launching and how did the AI coach AIMY platform come together? Cabrera noted:
“We’ve had AI embedded in our platform from the beginning to provide recommendations and improve the overall user experience. With the recent emergence of generative AI technologies and large language models (LLMs), we immediately recognized the tech as an opportunity for us to create additional value for our product.”
“We ran some assessments, selected some use cases and integrated this technology with other existing technologies — in a month! I feel very proud of the conversational AI coach we created. It’s a prototype, but we think AIMY could be a great coaching co-pilot, and we’re excited to see what we can learn from the data we collect.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of CoachHub’s biggest milestones? Cabrera cited:
“Under my leadership, our team has established an advanced data infrastructure that has driven significant business results, including series C investments totaling $330 million. We have also created innovative models for recommendations and personalization, improving user experience and driving customer satisfaction.”
“This year, we launched CoachHub Insights, a new analytical product that provides valuable insights for our clients, like platform adoption rates and goal tracking. After that came AIMY, our non-commercial research prototype designed to explore the potential of AI technology in the coaching industry. Within the first month of AIMY’s launch, we saw thousands of users from 97 different countries worldwide.”
Customer Success Stories
Upon asking Cabrera about customer success stories, he replied:
“There are so many success stories across different industries that it’s hard to pick just one, but a recent example that illustrated the power of coaching during transformational projects really stands out. A client in the automobile manufacturing segment was concerned with developing their people leaders in a modernized factory, so the company built a booth onsite for employees to connect privately with their coaches. This client understood the importance of scaling coaching for all types of roles to build important skills during a time of change.”
Funding
After asking Cabrera about the company’s funding, he revealed:
“CoachHub has received $330 million in funding to date. Our latest round of funding, Series C, was last year and raised $200 million.”
Total Addressable Market
What is the total addressable market (TAM) size that CoachHub is pursuing? Cabrera assessed:
“Because CoachHub is a digital platform that works with coaches all over the world, our market potential is enormous. Since our platform is available to anyone with an internet connection, we can reach any company that is interested in developing its employees, no matter where they are globally.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What distinguishes CoachHub from its competition? Cabrera affirmed:
“CoachHub stands apart from its competition because we understand the platform’s purpose. Every time we launch a new program, we consider the goals and then customize and configure the platform experience from end to end with those goals in mind. Once the program launches, we collect valuable insights about the coachees and offer this information to the organizations using our platform. These insights help HR leaders track their employees’ progress and ensure that their goals align with overarching company objectives.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of CoachHub’s future company goals? Cabrera concluded:
“CoachHub’s mission is to democratize coaching across all industries. Coaching is often seen as a privilege available only to executive-level employees. However, CoachHub wants everyone to have the chance to access our effective, holistic coaching approach which supports individual, collective and organizational transformation.”
