For years, organizations have faced an impossible choice when it came to manager/leadership training: reach everyone with flat e-learning that doesn’t stick, or deliver engaging live training that’s too expensive to scale.
But new AI technologies and evolved training approaches are finally making it possible to have both.
During a recent briefing with Tom Griffith, CEO of Hone, I discovered how his company is among those solving this persistent challenge through voice-based AI coaching combined with live instruction. The answer, it turns out, lies in combining live small-group classes with voice-based AI coaching—a dual modality approach that’s capturing attention from companies like Subway, Wall Street Journal, and Airbnb.
Founded seven years ago by Griffith (whose background includes building sports betting plaform FanDuel), Hone has evolved from a live-only training platform into what they call a “dual modality learning platform.” The company serves hundreds of customers across technology, financial services, media, and other industries requiring management development at scale, including organizations like Subway, Dow Jones, and Airbnb. Their recent integration of conversational AI represents a significant shift in how organizations can approach management development.
When Traditional Training Approaches Hit Their Limits
The leadership development market faces a persistent challenge: traditional e-learning libraries can reach everyone but lack the engagement needed for behavior change, while live training and coaching deliver impact but remain expensive and logistically difficult to scale. Most organizations end up with annual one- or two-day training events that fail to deliver sustained results.
The emergence of AI has created new possibilities, but also new complexities. Organizations are increasingly wary of generic AI solutions that might hallucinate frameworks or provide inconsistent guidance across their workforce.
How the Competition Stacks Up
The management training space includes several established players, each with distinct strengths and limitations:
- LifeLabs Learning offers live virtual workshops with unlimited access through their membership model. Their strength lies in research-backed “tipping point skills” and expert facilitators with psychology backgrounds. However, their approach remains primarily live-instructor dependent, limiting personalization and on-demand availability.
- Wildsparq provides a structured monthly leadership development system with individual development plans and team-based learning. While their systematic approach creates consistency, it lacks the real-time AI coaching component that enables just-in-time skill application.
- BetterUp combines AI technology with behavioral science for digital coaching at scale. Their platform excels at personalized development paths but focuses more on general coaching rather than specific management frameworks and skills training.
- Disco leverages generative AI for content creation and social learning experiences. Though strong in content generation capabilities, their approach emphasizes broader upskilling rather than the specialized soft skills coaching that managers need most.
- Traditional LMS providers (Cornerstone, Docebo) are rapidly expanding AI capabilities, including conversational coaching features. Cornerstone’s Immerse Companion offers AI-powered role-play scenarios, while Docebo’s AI Virtual Coaching provides scenario-based simulation. However, these solutions focus primarily on skills practice within their broader talent management ecosystems, rather than the specialized voice-first coaching approach combined with live instruction that defines Hone’s offering.
Hone’s Technology Edge: Voice-First AI Coaching
Hone’s differentiation centers on two specific innovations that address persistent training challenges:
- Real-time conversational AI with organizational context: Unlike generic AI chatbots, Hone’s AI voice system comes pre-loaded with the company’s leadership frameworks and can be customized with a client’s specific values, team dynamics, and DISC profiles. This means learners receive coaching that’s both pedagogically sound and organizationally relevant—without the risk of AI hallucination that concerns many L&D leaders.
- Integrated practice and application ecosystem: The AI experiences connect seamlessly with live class schedules and cohort programs. A manager might learn feedback skills in an 8-minute AI lesson, then practice the scenario with AI coaching, and later attend a live class for peer discussion and advanced techniques. This creates multiple reinforcement touchpoints that traditional single-modality approaches can’t match.
The voice-based interface deserves particular attention. While many competitors experiment with video avatars, Hone deliberately focuses on audio conversations that feel natural and avoid the “uncanny valley” effect that can undermine the learning experience.
Who Benefits Most from This Approach
Hone’s dual modality platform serves several distinct organizational needs:
- Mid-to-large enterprises (500+ employees) requiring consistent management development across multiple locations benefit from the standardized yet personalized approach. The AI ensures every manager receives the same quality frameworks while tailoring examples and practice scenarios to their specific context.
- High-growth technology companies facing rapid scaling challenges find value in Hone’s ability to onboard new managers quickly through cohort programs while providing ongoing skill reinforcement through AI coaching. The platform’s ability to democratize access to management training addresses the common problem of leadership development falling behind hiring pace.
- Organizations with distributed or remote teams leverage Hone’s virtual-first approach to maintain training consistency across geographies. The combination of live classes and on-demand AI coaching accommodates different time zones and work patterns while building connections between managers across locations.
- Companies prioritizing measurable training outcomes appreciate Hone’s built-in assessment capabilities across multiple Kirkpatrick levels, including 360-degree feedback and business impact metrics. The platform tracks not just completion rates but actual behavior change and retention impacts.
Market Position and Strategic Outlook
The L&D market currently faces a fundamental tension: organizations want AI’s personalization and scalability benefits, yet remain skeptical about AI’s ability to handle the nuanced interpersonal skills that effective management requires. Hone’s hybrid approach addresses both sides of this equation by using AI to scale personalized coaching while maintaining human connection through live classes and peer interaction.
The company’s technology-first heritage (venture-backed with in-house engineering) positions them well as the market shifts toward more sophisticated AI applications. Rather than bolting AI onto existing training models, they’ve built their entire platform architecture to support seamless integration between human and artificial intelligence.
However, in a time where economic uncertainty is high, learning budgets are often constrained and much needed investments deferred. The key for any L&D tech solution is to demonstrate ROI with actual behavioral change and business results rather than class ratings, completion and assessment score data.
The future likely belongs to platforms that can prove they’re not just delivering training, but actually developing better managers. Hone’s combination of proven frameworks, conversational AI, and comprehensive measurement puts them in position to capture this emerging market—if they can effectively communicate their value proposition during a period when training budgets remain constrained.
For L&D leaders evaluating options, the question isn’t whether AI will transform management training, but which platforms will deliver AI that actually makes managers more effective. Hone’s early integration of voice-based coaching with established learning methodologies suggests they understand that successful AI implementation requires more than just adding a chatbot to existing content—it requires reimagining how adults learn interpersonal skills at scale.
