Leadership
An AI-powered platform provides personalized feedback and optimization suggestions for executives. The AI analyzes processes and helps improve leadership skills and team dynamics, which strengthens employee retention.
An AI-powered platform provides personalized feedback and optimization suggestions for executives. The AI analyzes processes and helps improve leadership skills and team dynamics, which strengthens employee retention.
In many companies, feedback is recognized as an important leadership tool, but it is often not consistently applied. Leaders face the challenge of giving feedback that is both constructive and appreciative. At the same time, employees frequently perceive feedback as too formal, forced, or unhelpful. As a result, feedback often degenerates into a mandatory annual review rather than becoming a continuous element of a modern leadership culture.
As part of an ada Future Lab (LINK) project, three international companies—a car manufacturer, a commercial bank, and a consumer goods group—set out to answer a key question: How can leaders provide feedback that is high quality, objective, and efficient at the same time?
The hypothesis was that an AI-supported feedback process could help improve the quality of dialogue between managers and employees, make feedback more accessible, and strengthen leadership capabilities over the long term. Initial analyses showed potential in three areas: fostering an open feedback culture, increasing leadership effectiveness, and accelerating feedback processes.
The project team developed the app “Your Personal AI Coaching Partner,” designed to serve as a feedback coach for managers. The goal was to enable modern, high-quality feedback that remains individualized and emotionally resonant—without requiring excessive time.
The solution is built around three core principles:
The result is a digital leadership tool that strengthens the manager’s role by providing coaching impulses and optimizing the feedback process.
Stakeholder interviews offered valuable insights. Many managers expressed the need not just for a tool, but for a coach that would accompany them in their leadership role. Based on this, a concept was developed to improve both the feedback culture and leadership competence.
To bring the concept to life, a prototype was developed using GPT technology and enriched with the latest findings from leadership and feedback research. Tools like Perplexity were used to collect data and best practices, which were then integrated into the coach’s logic.
In an initial test phase, managers used the application in real feedback scenarios to structure their conversations. Additional interviews were conducted, and KPIs such as user acceptance, dialogue quality, and Net Promoter Score (NPS) were tracked.
The results were clear: managers found the coach time-saving and inspiring. They reported that it helped them optimize feedback processes while achieving a stronger emotional impact.
The AI Feedback Coach delivered tangible results. Acceptance among managers was high, as they experienced the app as a genuine relief in their day-to-day work. Employees, in turn, perceived the feedback as more nuanced and constructive.
The impact was visible in three key dimensions:
The project demonstrated that digital tools for leaders are more than just efficiency drivers. They can also act as catalysts for cultural change and improved collaboration.
Following the successful prototype phase, the project team is planning a pilot rollout within a specific business unit to systematically measure KPIs and adapt the coach to different leadership roles. In the long term, the solution is intended to be integrated into existing leadership development programs as a complement to traditional training and coaching.
An expansion to additional business areas is also planned, enabling feedback not only in employee reviews but also in projects, peer-to-peer situations, and cross-departmental collaborations.
The goal is ambitious but clear: strengthen leadership skills, build a robust feedback culture, and relieve managers through AI coaching in the long term.
Führung verändert sich: Hybride Teams, digitale Tools und KI fordern neue Wege, um Orientierung zu geben, Vertrauen aufzubauen und Wirkung zu entfalten. Das ada Future Lab zeigt, wie Führungskräfte in nur zwölf Wochen eine KI-gestützte Lösung entwickeln, die Entscheidungen verbessert, Feedbackprozesse stärkt und Leadership wirksam weiterentwickelt. Erfahren Sie, wie moderne Führung durch den gezielten Einsatz von KI klarer, empathischer und messbar erfolgreicher wird.
