Company compliance with ICF AI standards

Ask-Olivia’s Compliance with Professional AI Coaching Principles

Ask-Olivia has been designed in alignment with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) AI Coaching Standards, ensuring that every interaction reflects the ethical, relational and professional expectations of high-quality coaching, delivered responsibly through AI.

Domain A — Foundation

A1 — AI Ethics

What this requires
AI coaching systems must demonstrate fairness, transparency, non-harm and active bias minimisation in both design and use.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Built on established ethical coaching principles
• Transparent about its AI-driven nature within the user interface
• Designed to prevent harmful, discriminatory or biased guidance or outputs
• Does not unnecessarily collect demographic or personal data beyond what is needed for coaching and proper functioning
• User information is not used to train external AI models
• Responses are generated solely from:
   
  • The user’s initial questionnaire
   
  • The current coaching interaction

This ensures confidentiality, fairness and clear boundaries of use.

A2 — Coaching Mindset

What this requires
AI must embody a coaching mindset: curiosity, empowerment, client-led exploration and non-directive engagement.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Uses reflective questions rather than prescriptive advice
• Encourages exploration, awareness and co-creation of insight
• Adapts dynamically to each user’s personality profile
• Provides fluid, personalised coaching conversations

The personality questionnaire underpinning Ask-Olivia was developed by the Director of Psychometrics at the University of Cambridge, ensuring scientific robustness and credibility.

Domain B — Co-Creating the Relationship

B3 — Establishes & Maintains Agreements

What this requires
Clear expectations about purpose, privacy, data usage and consent must be established before engagement.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Clearly explains its role and AI functionality at the start of engagement
• Provides transparent information about data use and consent
• Includes a double-handshake system when two users connect - ensuring mutual consent before shared coaching begins

This reinforces clarity and shared understanding from the outset.

B4 — Cultivates Trust & Safety

What this requires
AI coaching must foster psychological safety, respect, dignity and confidentiality.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Privacy-first architecture and secure data handling
• Empathetic, neutral and professional tone
• Inclusive and culturally sensitive communication
• User feedback mechanisms built into the system
• Encourages users to seek human support (e.g., HR or managers) where appropriate

Trust and safety are foundational, not optional.

Ask-Olivia is a developmental coaching tool and is not intended to replace professional mental health or therapeutic services.

B5 — Maintains Presence

What this requires
AI must remain contextually aware, attentive and adaptive - mirroring a coach’s relational presence.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Maintains conversational continuity within each session
• Reflects user context and adapts to evolving inputs
• Checks for clarity and offers deeper exploration when requested
• Clearly states its AI-driven nature throughout interactions

Users experience a consistent sense of being supported throughout their reflection.

Domain C — Communicating Effectively

C6 — Listens Actively Through Context

What this requires
AI must interpret language in context and respond meaningfully.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Integrates questionnaire insights with live conversation
• Uses reflection prompts to maintain relevance and coherence
• Explains the reasoning behind suggested actions or communication approaches
• Links recommendations to personality dynamics to enhance learning

Users do not just receive suggestions, they understand why they are appropriate.

C7 — Evokes Awareness & Insight

What this requires
AI should deepen self-awareness, challenge assumptions and generate meaningful insight.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Uses structured prompts to stimulate reflection
• Encourages ongoing questioning and exploration
• Supports awareness of interpersonal perception when two users connect
• Facilitates mutual understanding of differences in personality and communication styles

The result is developmental insight, not transactional Q&A.

Domain D — Cultivating Learning & Growth

D8 — Facilitates Client Growth

What this requires
AI should support goal clarity, action planning and behavioural progression.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Helps define clear goals with a coach or manager
• Breaks goals into practical, achievable steps
• Provides actionable communication strategies
• Tailors behavioural recommendations to personality profiles
• Especially effective in improving workplace communication between colleagues

Growth is intentional, structured and personalised.

 D9 — Reinforces Client Growth

What this requires
AI should revisit progress, encourage persistence and adjust plans when needed.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Encourages follow-up dialogue and reflection
• Supports adaptive action planning
• Integrates with HR systems where appropriate
• Applies creative problem-solving to broaden solution options
• Personalises reinforcement strategies based on how each user is best positioned to succeed (personality-aware)

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Domain E — Assurance & Testing

E10 — Coaching Reliability

What this requires
AI coaching must be dependable, coherent and aligned with professional coaching quality.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Rigorous testing pipelines
• Ongoing coaching design evaluation
• Consistent alignment with recognised coaching norms
• Anonymous, aggregated data collection to evaluate effectiveness
• Bias-minimised personality-based framework supporting inclusivity

Reliability is engineered into the system.

Governance & Oversight
Ask-Olivia is continuously reviewed by a cross-disciplinary team spanning coaching, psychometrics, AI design, and ethics. We monitor system performance, review user feedback, and refine guardrails to ensure the platform remains responsible, effective, and aligned with professional coaching standards.

E11 — System Usability

What this requires
The system must be intuitive, accessible and easy to use.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Clear, simple UX design
• Context-sensitive prompts
• Multi-platform accessibility: Desktop, mobile, email integrations and messaging tool extensions

Coaching is available where work happens.

Domain F — Technical Integrity

F12 — Security & Privacy

What this requires
Robust safeguards for confidentiality and transparent consent.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Two-factor authentication
• Encrypted data handling
• Transparent consent disclosures
• Confidential coaching environment

Privacy is fundamental to trust.

F13 — Resilience & Accessibility

What this requires
AI systems must be robust, scalable and accessible across contexts.

How Ask-Olivia aligns

• Designed for enterprise-level use
• Accessible across platforms and APIs
• Built for scalability across organisations

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‍In Summary

Ask-Olivia meets the ICF AI Coaching Standards by:

✔ Embodying ethical, client-centred coaching principles
✔ Creating trust, safety and transparent agreements
✔ Communicating reflectively and contextually
✔ Supporting sustained behavioural growth
✔ Maintaining reliability, usability and technical integrity

These alignments ensure Ask-Olivia isn’t “just a chatbot”, it’s a coaching system thoughtfully designed to uphold professional coaching standards even when delivered by AI.

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