Alex Pascal: Honouring his legacy

Entrepreneur and executive coach Alex Pascal founded Coaching.com with the goal of transforming the way coaching is implemented across the globe. His passion for the convergence of human capital management and technology has enabled Coaching.com to deliver more efficient and impactful coaching initiatives by leveraging a cutting-edge SaaS platform. 

Alex was inducted posthumously into the Thinkers50 Coaching Legends in 2025, having sadly passed away earlier in the year. To honour his legacy, Thinkers50 was in conversation with Charlotte Saulny, CEO of Coaching.com, to explore Alex’s vision for the business and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the coaching industry.

“Alex always had this vision that he could create a piece of technology that would enable coaches and coaching organisations alike to manage the delivery of coaching services at scale,” says Charlotte. “We saw a need in the market for people to become organised around how they deliver coaching; that vision evolved over time to be more than just what technology delivers or what enterprises deliver. We recognised that in order to deliver effective coaching, coaches need ongoing education, support and personal development.”

Coaching.com wants to help coaches build their business and one of Alex’s biggest achievements is the incredible coaching community he created – one which continues to grow. 

Charlotte believes coaching is at a pivotal moment because of the emergence of AI. “There is a lot of variance in the quality of coaching and in coaches who have done many years of training and those who have done a short online course. The profession needs to be clearer around what the expectations are of being a coach and what that means in practice. Metrics is another area the industry needs to get better at, such as assessing the return on investment for businesses, and gauging the impact of coaching.”

It’s this debate around the quality of coaching that she says Coaching.com is committed to elevating. “There are expectations and regulations around what it means to be a coach that are problematic. We need to get clearer on the expectations, make them more accountable.”

Her thoughts on trends in 2026? “Many in the industry may see AI as a threat but it’s an extraordinary tool and we are just scratching the surface. We do need to be mindful of the ethics when using it, but it will help coaches get better – not just in relation to their coaching skills but in terms of how they manage their business. If anything, it’s going to challenge the profession to up its game, to think about what differentiates us. Change and disruption, and how coaches are best placed to help businesses manage this, is a topic that will continue to test us.”

“Another interesting area that is emerging within our community is a focus on wellness – how we identify burnout and recognise the signs before it is too late. And coaching is taking the lead.”

In memory of Alex Pascal (1984 – 2025), founder of Coaching.com.