Why I Joined GuidanceAI: Ian Price

The gap between sessions

Ian's clients know they can reach out between sessions by phone, email, or WhatsApp, and many do, especially when something urgent comes up. But they also know his availability has limits.

"A challenge or a question comes up on a Wednesday afternoon and they might want to reach out to me, but they know I just don't have that immediate availability. The limitations of my scheduling and my diary prevent that from happening."

For clients going through something fast-moving, like a merger, acquisition, or sale, that gap becomes even more acute. They need a conversation now, not in three weeks.

Why GuidanceAI

When Founder and CEO, Gerry, first showed Ian the platform, the response was immediately positive, but for reasons that went beyond just filling a scheduling gap. First, capacity. The ability to offer clients access to his thinking around the clock, without being physically available.

"If you want to have access to me 24/7, 365, here is an opportunity."

Second, and perhaps more personally significant, was the idea of creating a lasting repository for his knowledge, experience, and IP, much of which currently exists only in his head.

"Creating a repository of the knowledge that I have, the tools, the learning I've gathered, into one place. And then creating the interface that makes it accessible."

Ian has captured some of his thinking in a book, but that only went so far. Building a complete, accessible repository of his knowledge, tools, and mental models in one place is a different challenge. Guidance gave him a way to do that, and crucially, to make it interactive rather than static. Third, something he didn't fully anticipate: the digital coach can surface connections across his own methodology that he might not reach for in a live conversation.

"There are times when people may present a set of circumstances and I explore that using a particular mental model. Guidance provides the opportunity to pull from any number of mental models or tools or approaches that might not immediately present themselves to me in that moment. Guidance in that respect is a whole lot smarter than I am."

Early concerns, now resolved

Any coach considering this will have the same two questions Ian had. First: will it actually sound like me? Second: if clients are just typing into a chat window, how is this different from ChatGPT? On authenticity, Ian's doubts didn't last long once he started interacting with his digital coach.

"It does react in a way that I would expect it to react and would want it to react. It does have an Ian-like quality to it."

On the ChatGPT comparison, the difference became clear in how the digital coach behaves. Rather than pulling information from the internet and giving a direct answer, Ian's coach asks questions, challenges assumptions, and works through problems the way Ian would in a live session. It coaches rather than instructs.

"It's not ChatGPT. It's not going to go away and drag the internet. It is going to ask you questions."

What surprised him

Beyond the quality of the responses, Ian found that the process of building his digital coach was valuable in its own right.

"It's rather like the old adage: you learn when you teach. Structuring my thinking to populate it has helped me think about some of the approaches I take, the models I have, the tools I use."

Conclusion

Ian is one of the first coaches to join Guidance, and his experience so far reflects what we believe will become a natural evolution for high-trust advisory practices. The ability to extend your thinking beyond your diary, preserve your IP as a lasting asset, and give clients access to your judgment whenever they need it is not a nice-to-have. For coaches whose value lives in their perspective, it changes the shape of what their practice can be. As Ian continues to roll Guidance out across his client base, we'll share what he learns. In the meantime, his message to other coaches is simple: this isn't about replacing what you do. It's about making sure your thinking is present even when you're not.