Ask Aura: John Betancourt on AI Coaching, Psychometrics & the Future of Human-Centric Leadership

1. Why did you choose to focus on real-time, in-the-flow-of-work coaching rather than traditional, scheduled training or HR systems?

First, because traditional training can’t keep up with the pace—or pressure—of modern work.

We talk to HR and L&D leaders every day who are doing the hard work of trying to support hundreds or even thousands of managers and employees with limited budget, time, and headcount. But even the most thoughtful training loses steam when real-life challenges hit on a Tuesday at 3 p.m.—not during a quarterly workshop.

That’s where Ask Aura comes in. Instead of relying on scheduled sessions or static content libraries, Aura gives managers access to contextual coaching in the exact moment they need it—whether they’re writing a performance review, navigating team friction, or onboarding a new hire. It’s frictionless, scalable, and rooted in the reality of day-to-day leadership.

It is the micro-learning moments that lead to behavioral change, and real-world, contextual-based action (and learning).

And let’s be honest about it. Real impact happens between the trainings, not during them. That’s why we built Aura to coach in the flow of work, not outside it.

Second, in 2021 when we saw Grammarly go from new product to a $10B “taking over the world” application that was built seamlessly into workflows, we saw the model for future of content integration into workflows as well as the usage, adoption, and commercial SaaS business model value it creates. It struck me that they did that with not one new piece of content – the dictionary, grammar rules, and thesaurus are all free content for past 50 yrs. They just put it into workflows where people are doing the work. I tasked my CTO and development team to do the same for psychometrics-in-workflow, and they integrated into Zoom, MSFT Teams, Outlook, Slack and other key collaboration platforms.

2. Ask Aura integrates psychometric science with generative AI. How do these two components work together to deliver personalized coaching?

It’s the difference between personalized development and a one-size-fits-none approach (other generic AI Coaches).

The psychometric layer gives Aura a deep understanding of each employee’s behavioral drivers—how they communicate, what motivates them, how they learn, how they lead, and how they respond under stress. This is core to making the coaching actually contextually relevant to each person, team or situation, and thus be more effective, personalized, and thus stick. Without that insight, you’re just serving up generic advice that will get ignored.

Now, layer in a generative AI interface for users to consume the information via question-and-answer. That’s what turns raw psychometric data into real-time, human-sounding coaching tailored to the contextual moment. Let’s say a manager is about to give feedback to a team member who prefers direct, concise communication. Aura can flag that and suggest wording that matches the recipient’s style—so the message lands, not just gets delivered.

Or, take a new store manager who is about to walk into their 15-person apparel store, and they ask the AI Coach what the store team dynamics are, who will have the most conflict with their leadership style, and to write a 5 min motivational speech for their first day meeting them – all personalized to this team, at this store. All of those things would be different for a different team at a different store location.

The combination of both psychometrics + Gen AI means every coaching interaction feels like it was designed just for that person, and contextually for that exact situation. It’s personalized learning at enterprise scale.

3. Can you walk us through how Ask Aura delivers contextual and empathetic guidance in real-time scenarios like conflict resolution or team onboarding?

Absolutely. Let’s start with conflict resolution—a top pain point for HR.

When an employee indicates they’re having trouble with a colleague, Aura doesn’t just toss out generic conflict tips. It references both people’s psychometric profiles to identify why there’s friction—maybe one values harmony and the other values speed, or one prefers written feedback while the other thrives on verbal discussion.

From there, it offers specific, actionable guidance on how to bridge those gaps. Not just scripts—but also strategy. How to start the conversation, what tone to use, even which words might trigger defensiveness. It’s conflict coaching that helps de-escalate before HR ever has to get involved.

Same goes for onboarding. When new team members join, Aura proactively flags communication mismatches or style differences with their manager and teammates. That way, HR isn’t waiting for problems to bubble up; managers are equipped to build connection from day one.

In addition, Ask Aura solves the challenge of getting a new employee engaged in their first 90 days – a manager can ask Aura what types of projects will most engage and motivate a person, and why? This way, they can make sure any projects they give in the first 90 days will ensure the highest level of engagement from that employee. There is no tool in the world, no AI Coach in the world, that can do that today.

These moments aren’t “training events.” They’re what shape employee experience and retention. Ask Aura makes sure managers get them right – no matter what level, or what experience that manager has.

4. How does Ask Aura ensure privacy, compliance, and security when providing coaching that relies on sensitive workplace interactions?

We knew from day one: if people don’t trust it, they won’t use it.

That’s why we built Aura with enterprise-grade privacy and security controls baked in—SOC 2 Type II compliance, full GDPR alignment, and encryption of all data at rest and in transit. But security alone isn’t enough.

The LLM we use does not store data to learn from it and only uses the computing power of the LLM to come up with the answers to the prompted questions, then sends back all the data packets, so no data is stored for learning. Company data is thus 100% secure.

We also designed the experience around user trust. Coaching interactions are private, full stop. No one—managers, admins, HR, or us—can see what someone types into Aura unless they choose to share it. There’s no backdoor feedback loop or shadow surveillance. It’s a personal coaching space, not a reporting tool.

We also don’t collect sensitive HRIS data like comp, ratings, or performance notes unless an organization chooses to integrate it, and even then, it’s only used to enhance guidance, not evaluate people.

The bottom line: Aura supports growth, not surveillance. That’s non-negotiable.

5. Your CEO emphasizes that Ask Aura “enhances, not replaces, people.” How does this philosophy shape product design and AI decision-making?

We’re not trying to replace human coaches. We’re trying to make human development radically more accessible.

Most companies can only afford formal coaching for their top 5%—executives and high potentials. Meanwhile, first-time managers are out there winging it with zero support. In fact, Fast Company found that 85% of first-time managers receive no formal training or coaching. That gap is costing companies millions in turnover, disengagement, and burnout.

Aura was built to close that gap. It’s there in the trenches with managers, giving them the coaching they wish they had access to, without the price tag or bottlenecks that keep HR up at night.

Importantly, Aura doesn’t make decisions for people. It’s not an oracle or a manager replacement. It’s a guide—one that helps people think critically, communicate clearly, and lead with more emotional intelligence.

So, in practical terms, if a manager can now meet each of their 10 subordinates where each one of them is at – in communication style, motivational style, and behavioral styles (something that was impossible for 90% of managers prior to Ask Aura), then they can be more authentic, real, and human in the way they deal with each one. That personalization is more human. Being an autocratic, dictatorial leader doing everything in only one way –their way, which is often what happens today, is not very human, not very empathetic, and not very effective. Ask Aura solves this, and enables for the most authentic, human-centric leadership, interaction, and communication between any two people, especially for leaders with direct reports.

That’s the future of AI in HR: enhancing human skills at scale, not automating empathy out of the equation.

6. As AI continues to evolve, what’s next for Ask Aura in terms of capabilities and market reach?

We’re just scratching the surface.

In terms of capabilities, we’re expanding Aura’s ability to coach across the full employee lifecycle—from recruiting, to onboarding and team alignment to leadership readiness, all the way through to career mobility within a company. And we’re building new ways for HR leaders to see aggregate insights (never individual coaching data) on things like manager pain points, coaching trends, and cultural health signals.

On the market side, we’re seeing huge momentum in industries where coaching is needed most and least accessible: healthcare, hospitality, retail, and frontline work. These teams don’t have time for structured training, but they do have real moments of need every day. Aura shows up when they do.

And we’re global. Multilingual support with cultural nuance is a big focus, because leadership is local—and your tools need to reflect that.

Our vision is clear: coaching for every employee, not just the few with access and budget.

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