Startups and big tech companies have aggressively used AI to help developers write code or learn programming better. People have used chatbots to prepare for different scenarios in life, like interviews. Tech assessment platform CodeSignal, which introduced a learning platform for technical subjects with AI assistants last year, launched soft skill courses on its platform today to practice different professional skills and work-life scenarios.
The company thinks that historically, only the top brass of different organizations could afford to hire an expensive executive coach to skill up in areas of leadership and communication. Using different AI models, CodeSignal has created a practice and learning stack to make the skills and knowledge of a coach available to the masses.
Tigran Solyan, CEO of CodeSignal said that companies hire non-technical people in large numbers. So, it saw an opportunity to train those folks in different areas of their professional life.
“With the advancement of generative AI, we saw the opportunity to unlock a whole new world of soft skills, including leadership training, sales training, and learning negotiation tactics. We believe that hands-on training is the best way to learn a skill, and that is why after introducing technical training, we are looking at this new area,” Tigran Solyan, CEO of CodeSignal, told TechCrunch.
CodeSignal has launched more than 100 courses on its platform, with topics covering areas like effectively running one-on-one meetings, strategic leadership assessment, behavioral profile assessment, sales skills assessment, and improving public speaking.
Users can select any of these courses or ask the AI assistant to find them and start practicing different scenarios based on the description. You can use voice to talk to the AI character in the simulation. The company has developed its own voice stack for this instead of using an off-the-shelf solution like ElevenLabs’ conversational agent platform as it thought developing the solution in-house will save costs long-term. Once your conversation is over, the AI assistant guides you gives you tips about your chat, and helps you with areas of improvement.
Each time you ask for the help of the assistant to give you feedback, you lose an energy bar from an energy meter. Free users — which represent 90% of the chunk — get only a limited energy bar per day. Users can unlock unlimited chat with the AI assistant by paying a fee of $24.99.
When people complete practices and courses successfully, they progress to different levels of competency in that skill that is marked by developing, intermediate, advanced, and expert markers.
CodeSignal also has enterprise plans where it designs courses specific to a company using its knowledge base and cultural values. Solyan said that in customized courses, companies can also opt for the AI character to have different personalities to help professionals practice different real-life situations.
However, there is a question of baking in cultural sensitivity based on location and company culture. If that’s not baked into the courses, they could create an unpleasant experience for employees.
Sumit Singla, an India-based HR consultant, said that AI might suggest being assertive in some cases, but in certain locations, that could be frowned upon.
“AI might encourage ‘radical candor’ in feedback, but in cultures where indirect communication is preferred, this could backfire. The tool may misinterpret humor, sarcasm, or culturally specific expressions, leading to awkward or incorrect responses in training,” Singla said.
He believes that AI could be useful to practice some skills in a low-pressure environment. However, there is a chance that the tool might not have emotional intelligence or contextual awareness in some cases.
“In training, one of the things we do is called ‘reading the room.’ AI won’t be able to adjust to different personality types, work environments, or leadership styles. Soft skills development is highly personalized, and AI may not always give context-aware feedback,” Singla noted.
Solyan said that when the company works with different clients, it tries to bake in a lot of the cultural and personality context in the experiences, but he admitted that it is an iterative process. He said that CodeSignal also builds cultural templates when it starts to work in different locations and regions.
The startup, backed by Menlo Ventures and Index Ventures, is not the only one using AI for learning soft skills. Microsoft LinkedIn has also experimented with using AI-powered tools for courses in this segment. CodeSignal primarily engages with users on its website, and the company plans to launch iOS and Android apps later this year to expand its reach.
Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web. You can reach out to him at im[at]ivanmehta[dot]com