Artificial Intelligence (AI) Learning Platform, Praxis Labs, Headed by Women, Now Owned by Torch

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Learning Platform, Praxis Labs, Headed by Women, Now Owned by Torch

In a strategic move aimed at transforming the landscape of leadership development, Torch has announced the acquisition of Praxis Labs, an innovative AI learning platform. This merger seeks to integrate AI-powered learning with contextual coaching, directly connecting human behaviour to business results.

Heather Conklin, Torch's CEO, underscores the importance of coaching as a strategic lever, linking individual leadership growth with organisational goals, thereby improving change readiness and execution. The acquisition is designed to address a critical market failure: the vast majority of transformation initiatives still fail due to the gap between strategy and execution, despite organisations spending over $60 billion annually on leadership development.

The combined entity aims to create a leadership intelligence platform, bridging the strategy-execution gap by connecting coaching conversations with real business context and priorities. This will result in a dynamic feedback loop, offering precise, targeted interventions to address cultural and execution barriers as they emerge in organisations undergoing change, such as AI integration or market disruptions.

The acquisition is expected to enhance leadership capacity to adapt and execute amid accelerated change, making organisations more resilient and effective. It will also provide scalable, data-driven coaching experiences that blend the relational depth of human coaches with AI’s intelligence and reach. Additionally, it will offer access to continuous, actionable organisational insights that inform decision-making across strategy, culture, and diversity initiatives.

The acquisition will expand Torch's market reach by integrating Praxis’s technology to serve widely known clients like Amazon, Accenture, Target, and Uber, boosting customer value. The Praxis team is joining Torch to accelerate the development of their AI product roadmap, enhance capabilities, and amplify impact.

Praxis Labs, co-founded by Elise Smith and Heather Shen in 2019, had previously worked with notable companies such as eBay, Zoom, Amazon, Google, and Target. Smith, who will serve as Head of AI Growth at Torch, raised more than $1 million in venture capital funding in 2021, making her one of the few Black women to achieve this milestone.

The strategic alignment of Torch and Praxis Labs is poised to redefine coaching as a catalyst for organisational change by merging AI learning tools with leadership coaching, thereby delivering measurable improvements in business results and workforce development.

1. The acquisition of Praxis Labs by Torch, a strategic move aimed at transforming leadership development, intends to secure funding for the development of a leadership intelligence platform, which aims to bridge the strategy-execution gap in business.
2. The fusion of Praxis Labs' AI learning platform with Torch's coaching services will provide scalable, data-driven coaching experiences, blending the relational depth of human coaches with AI's intelligence and reach, thereby offering continuous, actionable organizational insights that inform decision-making.
3. With the acquisition, Torch expects to expand its market reach, using Praxis's technology to serve wide-known clients like Amazon, Accenture, Target, and Uber, while also leveraging Praxis Labs' co-founder, Elise Smith, who raised venture capital funding in 2021 and is now serving as Head of AI Growth at Torch.

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