Magdalena Nowicka Mook: Getting younger people involved in coaching is an exciting prospect

For the last 20 years Magdalena Nowicka Mook has led the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the largest global organisation for coaching and professional coaches. She has worked with close to 60,000 coaches in more than 160 countries, setting standards for excellence, ethical practice, and impact. Magdalena was recently announced as a 2025 Thinkers50 Coaching Legends inductee, which honours executive coaches who have made significant and lasting contributions to the field of coaching and management. Speaking to Thinkers50, she highlighted what the ICF has achieved over the years, why coaching is now becoming the norm across organisations, the potential of AI within the industry and its benefit in helping to tackle mental wellbeing. The majority of ICF members and credential holders identify as organisational/business/executive coaches. As such, ICF is equipping them with research, trends, updated competencies and education to empower them to work and to enable their clients, individuals, and organisations to thrive. In 2025, the ICF recorded 60,000 active credentials, meaning that many individuals are providing a proven, professional service to their clients around the globe. “This global standard of excellence, aligned with ISO standards and based on research, is a true world-class offering to coaches, but mostly to their clients, ensuring quality and impact,” says Magdalena. She believes that coaching permeates all sectors of the economy and facets of life and that it’s particularly exciting to see coaching applied by large corporations and governmental entities alike. She’s also noted its increasing use within education and social progress organisations, and a growing interest from younger people. “Seeing coaching becoming a career of choice for younger people and seeing coaching embraced and desired in almost all parts of the world is exciting too,” she says. However, “the fear remains that untrained individuals, calling themselves coaches, are diluting the true potential and sustainable impact of professional coaching.” Magdalena sees AI as a powerful enabler of coaching to reach an even greater number of people. supporting coaching practice, the process of coaching education, and maintaining and growing the level of coaching skills. Coaches utilising AI, she says, will continue to thrive and the provision of better education around AI in coaching may support both coaching and clients, eliminating unnecessary fear. She cautions however that use of AI in coaching needs to be applied with strong ethical standards and transparency. Looking ahead to 2026, Magdalena expects to see a continued increase in the use of AI to support access to coaching and coaches alike, more coaching to support clients’ mental wellbeing, and coaching cultures becoming a norm within organisations.