BusinessWire India
New Delhi [India], August 25: The way professionals learn, grow, and lead in India is undergoing a seismic shift. A new whitepaper, Powering Talent and Growth in India, launched at the SPARK Leadership Conclave & Awards 2025 in Gurgaon, underscores how digital coaching and mentoring platforms are fast becoming a cornerstone of business and talent strategy.
The global coaching platform industry is on a sharp upward curve. Valued at USD 3.8 billion in 2025, the market is projected to nearly triple to USD 11.1 billion by 2035, growing at an annual rate of 11%. India stands out as the world's second-fastest-growing market, expanding at 9.5% CAGR, just behind China.
India's digital coaching market is entering a breakout phase, with growth rates that far outpace the global average. From USD 231.6 million in 2023, the Indian market is forecast to touch USD 971 million by 2034, expanding at a remarkable 14% CAGR.
As organizations worldwide shift from traditional training to scalable, digital-first coaching solutions, India's rapid adoption of mobile platforms and localized content is positioning it as a pivotal growth driver in the global talent development story.
Anuranjita Kumar, CEO & Co-founder of WeAce said, "The future of coaching will be neuro-personalized, informed by real-time cognitive and emotional data, and guided by generative AI mentors that evolve with each individual's career journey. We're moving from performance-driven models to life-centric coaching, where wellbeing, purpose and fulfilment matter as much as business outcomes."
The report also highlights that executive coaching delivers some of the highest returns in HR investments, with ROI benchmarks ranging from 500% to 788% globally. In India, companies are already reporting 6-7x returns, largely from productivity gains, improved retention, and stronger leadership pipelines. This places coaching not as a discretionary expense, but a strategic enabler of business growth and competitiveness.
Richard Rekhy, Vice Chairman, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP said, "Over the decades, I have seen that nothing shapes leaders more profoundly than coaching and mentoring. Today, digital platforms give us the power to scale this impact--making it accessible not just to a privileged few, but to every employee across the enterprise. True leadership, however, begins even earlier. We must weave coaching into the fabric of schools and colleges so that young graduates step into the workplace already primed for growth. When coaching is both universal and lifelong, we don't just build better professionals--we build stronger societies."
Beyond scale and ROI, the study points to future trends reshaping India's talent ecosystem--AI-powered neuro-personalization, immersive VR/AR learning environments, and hybrid coaching models that blend digital efficiency with the human touch. These innovations, the authors argue, will be critical for addressing India's vast cultural diversity, Tier-II/Tier-III skilling needs, and the widening demand-supply gap in advanced tech talent.
CP Gurnani, Co-Founder and Vice Chairman, AlonOS opined, "Having witnessed how technology has reshaped industries, I believe its role in leadership development is just as transformative. AI now allows us to deliver highly targeted behavioural coaching interventions--tailored to individual needs in real time--while technology ensures we can measure outcomes with precision. This combination of personalization and measurability makes coaching not just effective, but indispensable for building future-ready leaders."
Prachi Rastogi, Culture & Inclusion Leader, APAC & Japan, IBM said, "As a client, we've seen first-hand how digital coaching and mentoring transform our talent pipeline. Gen X and Gen Z learn and engage differently -- digital tools allow learning to be tailored to the needs of each generation. They allow us to personalize at scale, cut across hierarchies, and ensure access to guidance for everyone. For us, every dollar invested in digital coaching translates into sharper leaders, higher productivity, and a culture of continuous growth."
The SPARK Leadership Conclave, hosted by WeAce in partnership with IBM, brought these insights into sharp focus. Held at The Westin, Gurgaon, the invite-only forum spotlighted themes such as empathetic leadership, Gen Z workforce integration, and AI-driven coaching futures. The conclave also doubled up as an awards platform, celebrating organizations that are pioneering leadership diversity and innovation.
With India positioned as one of the fastest-growing global markets for digital coaching, the whitepaper--and its launch at SPARK--signals a clear message: people strategy is now business strategy. Companies that invest in scalable, tech-enabled coaching will not just build leaders, but also future-proof their growth in an increasingly fluid world of work.
(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
