When Torch announced our acquisition of Praxis Labs, people had questions. A lot of questions. So we brought together Torch CEO Heather Conklin and Praxis co-founder Elise Smith for an open discussion about what brought us together, and where leadership development is headed next.
The response to the fireside chat, The future of leadership: An acquisition that redefines what’s possible when human connection meets AI, was telling. Leaders around the world tuned in because they’re facing the same urgent challenge. You know your people need to think differently, work differently, lead differently. But how do you actually make that happen when everything is changing this fast?
What came through wasn’t just an acquisition story, more a unique way to connect individual growth to what your business needs to execute. Not development for development’s sake, but a system where coaching + AI creates the leadership capacities needed to drive real change.
Watch the full conversation or keep reading for the insights that are changing how we think about developing leaders.
Why we acquired Praxis Labs
Torch kept hearing the same thing from customers. “They were really looking for AI solutions to augment the amazing human coaching that we were providing,” Heather explained. “And everybody’s really interested in data, data, data, data!”
But this wasn’t about jumping on an AI trend. Both companies had been wrestling with the same fundamental problem.
Elise co-founded Praxis Labs because she kept seeing the same gaps everywhere. At IBM building Watson education products, then as an investor funding learning solutions. “How could we create practice and experiential based experiences instead of just awareness based learning?
“How could we think about measurable learning experiences where we could really prove the ROI beyond just how many people went through a training and if they thought it was valuable on a scale of one to five?”—Elise Smith, Head of AI Growth, Torch
Heather’s path was different but led to the same place. At Salesforce, she started an associate product manager program thinking she’d teach hard skills. Instead, she found herself coaching twenty-two year olds through imposter syndrome and relationship building. “I can’t unsee what I saw then, about how much it changes how you show up at work when you really invest in yourself.”
The acquisition happened because together, they could create “such richer context about leaders and the organizational systems that they’re a part of.”
The numbers that show why everyone needs to pay attention
Elise shared data from the World Economic Forum that explains why this conversation mattered so much.
“Sixty percent of employers are expecting AI to transform their businesses by 2030. And the transformation is going to have this divergent effect where it’s going to both drive and increase in the fastest growing job roles, but also the fastest in specific areas.”
“By 2030, 70% of the skills used in most jobs will change, and AI is that catalyst.”—Elise Smith, Head of AI Growth, Torch
And yet. “It’s like leadership. It’s teamwork. It’s negotiation and relationship building. These are the things that are critical for the implementation of AI technologies.” The human stuff becomes more important, not less.
Heather connected this to something we see every day at Torch. “How many times have you woken up and read a headline about AI and what AI is doing today that it didn’t know how to do yesterday? It’s just the pace and the constant nature of the change is really overwhelming to humans.”
Meanwhile, 88% of business transformations fail. Not because the strategy is wrong, but because organizations don’t have the leadership infrastructure to execute it.
The problem with leadership development is that it doesn’t connect to anything real
Heather made a point that cut right through all the generic advice out there. “If you are an entry level product manager and a biotech startup, the way AI is going to impact you and your job is so different than if you were a senior finance person in a large one hundred year old hospitality company.”
This sounds obvious when you say it out loud, but most leadership development treats everyone the same. Generic programs. Generic skills. Generic outcomes. And then we wonder why leaders don’t actually change how they work.
At Torch, we flipped this completely. Heather explained. “What do you expect from your leaders in order to achieve your goals?”
“If we’re going to help your leaders be more effective at your organization, then our coaches and our experiences need to be steeped in your context.”—Heather Conklin, CEO, Torch
Elise talked about how Praxis does the same thing. “We start with context. We get that context from the organization and ingest it through our platform.” The AI coaching pulls from your actual leadership competencies and gives feedback tied to what you specifically need.
A real customer story that shows how this actually works
One of Torch’s biggest customers actually did this. They looked at their entire workforce and said, we need to be running at AI. We need people who are more adaptive, more agile, more collaborative about innovation.
So they rolled out coaching to everyone. The CEO and chief people officer went to every All Hands and said, this is what we’re doing, here’s why, let’s make sure we’re all on this journey together.
The result? They learned that teaching technical skills wasn’t enough. “This is a human adaptation problem and they needed their people to think differently and work differently and collaborate differently in order to really achieve the kind of vision that they had for where they were going with AI.”
Now they’re embarking on year two with Torch, and we’re excited to take it to the next level with the combined capabilities the Praxis acquisition opens up.
The shift that’s changing how leaders grow
Elise got to the heart of why most programs fail. “How could we create practice and experiential based experiences instead of just awareness based learning? How could we think about measurable learning experiences where we could really prove the ROI beyond just how many people went through a training and if they thought it was valuable on a scale of one to five?”
The Praxis platform has simulations for “setting strategic vision to navigating team conflict to coaching for performance or managing performance expectations, the things that people and leaders are doing every single day.” But these aren’t training modules you complete once. They’re tools you can use “right before a critical one on one or team meeting where you’re like, I need to get mad back at navigating the situation.”
Even Heather was surprised by what she discovered. “When I first got access to Praxis, I went into one of the simulations related to giving feedback.
“I’ve given a lot of feedback over the years, but as I was doing the simulation and getting real-time coaching while I practiced, it was eye opening. I could see all the different ways I could continue to build my skills.”—Heather Conklin, CEO, Torch
One of Praxis’s enterprise clients put it perfectly. They came to Praxis saying that their people leaders were telling them the job was changing, transformation was happening, and they needed a different kind of leadership development experience. They weren’t looking for more training. They needed their leaders to be able to practice and have on-demand coaching support whenever they needed it.
Two-way communication that actually works
Most leadership development focuses entirely on the individual. But something else came up in the conversation that felt different. As one participant put it in the chat, “If a flower isn’t growing, we change the environment, not the flower.”
Heather explained, “This is a powerful system of two-way communication. The company gets to say, ‘Here’s what we need from our leaders, here’s what we expect.’ And the leaders—through coaching and the platform—can respond, ‘Got it. You want me to lead on AI. You want me to be more adaptive and agile. But here’s what’s really happening on the ground, and what’s getting in the way of us succeeding together.'”
That’s exactly what this approach does. It doesn’t just focus on fixing leaders, but on understanding what’s preventing them from thriving.
“We could give you the best coaching in the world, but if the environment that is surrounding those leaders is not conducive to their success, they’re not going to be as successful as you’re asking them to be.”—Heather Conklin, CEO, Torch
Creating the conditions for success, not just better leaders
This isn’t just about developing leaders anymore. It’s about creating the conditions for them to actually succeed. This resonated throughout the conversation and was shared in the chat, “Organizations aren’t machines – they are living systems.”
That’s exactly why so many leaders showed up to this conversation. They’re tired of leadership development that happens in isolation from the real challenges their organizations face. They want something that connects individual growth to business execution, that provides practice when leaders need it most, and that reveals what’s actually preventing change from happening.
The Torch and Praxis combination does something most leadership development can’t. It creates a system where coaching, practice, and organizational insight work together to build the leadership capacity your business actually needs. Not tomorrow, but right now when the pressure is on and the stakes are high.
Try this with your team this week
- Gut-check your leadership expectations. Write down what you actually need from your leaders to execute strategy. Then look at your current development efforts. Are they aligned?
- Ask what’s getting in the way. In your next 1:1 or team meeting, ask: What’s stopping you from showing up the way we need you to right now? You’ll surface blockers you can’t fix with training alone.
- Run a quick practice rep. Pick one real challenge your team’s facing—a tough convo, high-stakes decision, or moment of pressure—and walk through it together before it happens.
- Make the growth-to-goals link. Before your next coaching or development convo, ask: What business priority is this helping us move faster on? Keep the connection clear.
- Get AI on the radar. No survey needed. Just ask a few leaders: Where do you feel prepared for AI? Where do you feel behind? Their answers will show you where to focus.
Your questions, answered
Here’s what people wanted to know, and what Heather and Elise had to say.
How do you see AI augmenting real human coaching?
AI can capture what’s really happening in people’s day-to-day challenges between coaching sessions, giving coaches richer context about who they’re working with and what world that person operates in. It also provides a safe space for practice – taking the insights from coaching conversations and actually rehearsing them before high-stakes moments. As Elise put it, imagine if your coach already knew what you’d been practicing before your session, so you could make better use of that time together. —Heather and Elise
Can this approach address skills misalignment and burnout when people chase market demand over personal purpose?
The human-centered skills that matter for work also make you a better person overall. Leaders tell us they not only stop interrupting colleagues in meetings, but they stop interrupting their children too. Coaching starts with who you are, what you care about, and your unique strengths – then helps you connect that to what’s happening around you. It’s about bringing your authentic self to the challenges your organization needs you to solve. —Elise and Heather
How do you tie coaching to business impact?
Everything gets anchored around the specific leadership capacities your organization needs. Want people to run with AI? They need to be more adaptive, agile, and collaborative about innovation. We measure where leaders start, track how they change over time, and connect that growth back to the exact capabilities you’re trying to build. Plus, we can show you what other gaps you might not even realize exist yet. —Heather
Leadership development that actually connects to what your business needs to execute. Ready to lead differently? Let’s talk.
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