Top executives know a coach can be a secret weapon, especially when it comes to making the big calls and setting strategy. These high-stakes decisions chart the future course of an organization, and elite executive coaches and consultants from McKinsey and Bain command high prices to help executives make the right calls. 

But it’s the work done on the frontlines that determines how well the organization follows the course its executives set. Frontline managers face an entirely different set of challenges from executives. A leader at a distribution center might be looking to motivate their team for a holiday push. A veteran at a back-office hub could be struggling to support a colleague’s personal adversity. A new manager may be struggling to give tough feedback on attendance and missed shifts. These are some of the thousands of small frictions and daily decisions that add up to big differences in corporate performance and business bottom line. 

The frontlines need immediate and practical support in their day to day, but traditional HR functions have struggled to meet the need of frontline workers for a few reasons:

• High ratios of HR business partners to managers – At a Fortune 500, it is not unusual for an HR team of a dozen people to have responsibility for thousands of employees. A ratio of 1:200 or 1:250 isn’t uncommon, and at that scale, one-on-one HR support isn’t possible. 
• Learning and development when HR isn't in office – The frontline is inherently separate from corporate headquarters, where most HR teams tend to concentrate. With COVID, the frontlines became even more distributed, and for many Fortune 500 companies, an increasingly large fraction of regional offices don’t have an HR person onsite. 
• Structured digital learning and offsites disrupt day-to-day work, with limited results. By necessity, HR has turned to structured learning, whether an online module or an off-site workshop. The trouble is managers are busy, and these programs require taking them out of the flow of their work to learn. 

HR leaders want to support their frontline leaders and employees, but the reality is that their capacity is limited. The frontlines have long needed practical, day-to-day coaching for their immediate needs. Now, with AI, HR leaders have a cost-effective way to deliver what their frontlines need. 

Meet Nadia – Purpose-built AI that gives frontline managers the support they need at scale

When we started Valence in 2017, we were on a mission to provide companies tools to create more productive teams. We believed it was the performance of individuals within the context of their teams that mattered most. Our first set of team tools helped over 100,000 people become more productive leaders and team members. 

With the arrival of Generative AI, we saw that there was now the opportunity to develop the hands-on, dialed-in, bespoke support that managers craved. Having come from the world of elite consulting firms, we knew the power and the prestige (read: cost) of that engagement. 

In 2022, shortly after we first saw ChatGPT, we began building the AI coach we knew teams and managers needed. Today, Nadia is the most widely deployed and adopted AI coach in the Fortune 500, used by millions of frontline workers. 

Nadia is purpose-built for the front lines. From the start, we trained Nadia to work within the context of frontline work. She knows the best coaching frameworks and methodologies, is consistently updated with new management principles, and she knows how to use them. Where an internal GPT or Copilot can tell an employee what a framework is, Nadia has a conversation that guides the employee on the best ways to lead and manage, handle work stress, and elevate performance. She knows when to role-play, when to nudge, and when to cheer. 

Nadia is personalized coaching for every employee. Every leader has different needs and unique strengths and weaknesses. HR can't possibly provide 1:1 support tailored to each individual frontline worker, but Nadia can. She uses a proprietary context window to build a detailed understanding of each user that gets better with time. She learns a manager’s communication style, strengths and weaknesses, relational and team dynamics, and then proactively weaves in questions and reflections that prompt behavioral insights and changes.

‍Nadia talks to managers in their language. As only an AI can, Nadia delivers consistent guidance everywhere, across 100+ languages. Frontline workers can talk to and receive guidance from Nadia in their language, removing communication barriers and helping build a unified culture even when teams are spread across the globe.

Nadia is always available. Unlike HR teams limited by office hours and staff shortages, Nadia provides 24/7 support for urgent situations, such as when it’s the make-or-break holiday season, workers are unmotivated, and sales are way below target. 

Nadia proactively follows up with practical support. Instead of disrupting work for structured training that may not stick, Nadia delivers advice exactly when managers need it. Once Nadia learns what someone needs, she proactively follows up — booking meetings to role-play hard conversations, checking in on how a particular work plan is going, and providing additional support and resources. 

Nadia is primed to learn your business. HR teams struggle to consistently reinforce company culture across scattered workforces. A manager in Tokyo and another in Toronto might get totally different advice. We customize each deployment of Nadia to your company values from day one, and HR leaders can adjust how much and how often she leans into them. 

Real results from the frontline

We’ve customized and deployed Nadia at over 45 of the largest global companies, and the best part of our jobs is hearing the stories from the frontlines.

In a matter of weeks, Nadia guided a Costa Coffee manager as she transformed an underperforming store into the top-performing store, shattering sales records along the way.

At a global manufacturing company, a CHRO told us about a call from a plant manager in the Americas. There had been an unexpected fatality, and the manager had struggled to know how to respond. In the middle of the night, he turned to Nadia. And she helped, enormously. His message for the CHRO was simple: “This is the best thing you have ever given us.” As a frontline manager, he wanted every one of his reports to have Nadia’s support.

Ready to support your frontlines?

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Parker Mitchell is cofounder and CEO at Valence, where he helps people work better and contribute to a world where potential is more important than credential. He has been recognized by Ernst & Young as Entrepreneur of the Year and been named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.

Alex McMurray is cofounder and VP of Sales at Valence, where she partners with Fortune 500 enterprises, including Experian, Prudential, Delta, General Mills, Coca-Cola, and more to effectively scale AI coaching to their front lines. 

Levi Goertz is cofounder and Head of Client Solutions at Valence. He works closely with each of our enterprise clients, bringing deep expertise on how Valence’s tools unlock the full potential of every employee.

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