A question coaches ask me: can I have an AI version of me that my clients can talk to between sessions?
Yes. It is called different things, an AI clone, an AI twin, a digital version of you. I call it an AI coach, because that is the job it does. This guide covers what it is, what it learns from, where it has to stop, and what it costs, whether you set one up yourself or have it built for you.
The short answer
An AI version of you is an assistant trained on your own material: your session recordings, workbooks, notes, posts and podcasts. Your clients message it between sessions and get answers in your words and your way of coaching. Anything personal or sensitive goes back to you, with context.
You can set one up yourself with a self-service tool for free up to about €90 a month, plus your own time to train it and keep it right. Or you can have it built and run for you. Published setup prices for that run from about €2,000 to over €10,000. Ours is from €890 to set up, then €4 per active client a month, with a minimum of €90 a month and all AI usage included.
AI clone, AI coach or chatbot?
The words get mixed up, so it helps to separate them.
A general chatbot answers from everything it has read on the internet. It is clever and has no idea how you coach. Ask it about your framework and it will invent one.
An AI clone is usually built to sound like you, often from your social posts and videos. Sounding like you is the easy part.
An AI coach is trained on how you actually coach, follows your rules, and knows when to stop and hand over to you. That last part is what makes it safe to put in front of clients.
Whatever you call it, judge it on the third description, not the first two.
What it does for your clients
A well built AI version of you does five jobs:
- Answers between sessions. A client stuck at ten at night gets an answer from your material, not a wait until next week.
- Qualifies new leads. It talks to visitors on your site, answers their questions and books the ones who are a fit.
- Onboards new clients. It welcomes them and gathers what you need before the first session.
- Checks in after sessions. It follows up on the action you agreed, so it actually happens.
- Hands back what matters. Anything personal or worrying comes to you, with the context you need.
Here is the kind of exchange it handles. A client writes "I snapped at my team today." Your coach replies "That happens under pressure. What do you want them to hear from you tomorrow?", the way you would, with one question at a time. I have written more about what an AI assistant handles well and what it should not touch.
What it learns from
The quality of an AI version of you depends almost entirely on what you give it.
The best material is how you actually coach. Session recordings (with your clients' consent), workbooks, call notes, the frameworks you draw on a whiteboard, podcast episodes where you explain your thinking.
Marketing copy is the weakest material. Train it mainly on sales pages and social posts and it will sound like a sales page.
Your rules matter as much as your material. Your tone, for example warm and direct with British spelling. What it should never do, for example diagnose or give medical advice. How it coaches, for example one reflection question at a time. When it should suggest a call. Those rules are what make it sound like you rather than a summary of you.
Where it has to stop
Some lines are not optional when you put an AI version of yourself in front of clients:
It answers from your material only. No guessing, no internet advice that contradicts your approach.
It passes personal and risky topics to you. If a client mentions burnout, a health worry or anything that needs a person, it says so and tells you, with the conversation so far.
Clients know it is AI. It is your AI coach, in your voice, and clients should always know that is what they are talking to.
It does not replace sessions. It carries the routine between sessions, so the sessions themselves can go deeper.
The conversations are yours. You should be able to see them, export them and leave whenever you want.
These lines follow the ICF's standards for AI coaching, which I have summarised in the ICF AI coaching standards in plain English.
What it costs
There are two routes, with a middle ground between them.
| Do it yourself | Built and run for you | |
|---|---|---|
| Up front | Your time to set it up and test it | A setup fee: published prices from about €2,000 to over €10,000, ours from €890 |
| Each month | Free to about €90, depending on the tool and what usage it includes | Ours: €4 per active client, minimum €90, usage included |
| Training it on your material | You | The provider, with you |
| Keeping it right | You | The provider |
| Your brand | Depends on the tool and plan | Your brand, on your own web address |
The middle ground is "done with you", where someone helps you set up a self-service tool, usually for a one-off fee of around €2,000 to €3,000. Some course platforms also now include an AI assistant in their plans, so check what you already pay for.
Our prices in practice
For our AI coach, the monthly price depends on how many clients are active:
- Up to 22 active clients: €90 a month, the minimum.
- 30 active clients: €120 a month.
- 40 active clients: €160 a month.
So a practice with 30 active clients pays €890 once, then €120 a month, which is €2,330 in the first year. Clients who leave stop counting. AI usage, hosting and updates are included, so there is no second bill.
If you want clients to be able to talk to it out loud, on a walk or in the car, the voice add-on is €290 to set up, then €3 per active client a month. All prices are on the AI coach page.
Do it yourself or have it built?
Do it yourself if you enjoy setting up tools, have a few clear evenings, and are happy to keep testing it and fixing its answers as you go. Start with a small set of your best material and a short list of rules.
Have it built if you would rather spend those evenings coaching, want it in your own brand from day one, and want someone else to make sure it stays accurate, safe and running.
Either way, try it yourself as a client before anyone else sees it. Ask it the questions your clients ask, and the awkward ones too. If you coach senior leaders, AI for executive coaches covers confidentiality in more depth.
Questions to ask before you choose
- Does it answer only from my material? What happens when it does not know?
- What does it do with a personal or risky message? Who is told, and how fast?
- Can I see the conversations, or at least a weekly summary?
- Is AI usage included, or billed on top as clients use it?
- Is it in my brand, or does the tool's name show?
- Who owns the conversations, and can I export them and leave?
- How is my clients' data handled, and does it follow GDPR?
Questions coaches ask
Will it replace me? No. It carries the routine and hands the important conversations back to you. Clients still come to you for the work that needs a person. The research on this is in will AI replace coaches?
Will my clients actually use it? They use it when it answers properly the first time and sounds like you. That is why the material you train it on matters so much.
How long does it take to set up? Doing it yourself, as long as your evenings allow. With us, days, not weeks. The longest part is reviewing your material together.
Can it be white-labelled? Yes. A white-label AI coaching app carries your name, your colours and your web address, and your clients never see the provider's name.
Can I hear one before deciding? We have built demos in the voices of well known coaches, and you can hear them on the AI coach page.
Where to start
Write down the ten questions your clients ask you most between sessions, and where the answers live in your material. If the answers are already there, an AI version of you can give them.
If you'd like to see what this looks like for your own practice, I'll build a companion from your website, free. See your own companion
Robert, founder of Thinkable Systems