Torch

Torch is a leadership coaching platform that companies buy to develop their leaders at every level, from individual contributors to the C-suite. It pairs senior human coaches with an AI agent called Spark, and it anchors the coaching to the company's own strategy rather than to a generic model. The company's comparison page describes Torch as "a leadership coaching and alignment platform" built for mid-market and enterprise talent teams, and says LinkedIn, Reddit, Tripadvisor and Airbnb use it. The site footer names the company as Torch Leadership Labs.

The home page frames the idea as strategy and culture. Strategy and visible culture are what most organizations control well; what they struggle with is the culture "beneath the surface", meaning how people act when the boss is not in the room. Torch says its coaching targets three points there: behaviors, beliefs and individual mindset, delivered through group coaching, team coaching and individual coaching at scale.

How a Torch engagement works

According to the comparison page, every engagement starts from the company's own leadership intent instead of a proprietary framework. Torch distills that intent into a set of leadership capacities, then ties a 360-degree feedback program, the coaching itself and the Spark AI agent to those capacities. At the end, a closing 360 reassessment measures behavioral change on the same instrument, so the before-and-after comparison is like for like. The FAQ adds that talent teams measure ROI and behavior change on custom dashboards and through these before-and-after 360s.

The product menu lists four parts: the coaching overview, the Spark AI agent, change coaching and organizational intelligence. The solutions menu shows what companies use it for: performance, change management, initiatives, retention, adaptability and alignment, plus AI readiness, organizational restructuring, team development and succession planning.

The coaches and the three tiers

Torch puts its coaches at the center of the pitch. The home page says "Every Torch coach is ICF-credentialed and brings at least five years of coaching experience", that all are leaders from industry, and that many are doctoral-qualified psychologists and therapists. The comparison page puts the network at about 350 coaches and calls it senior.

Leaders are matched to a coach from the tier built for their level:

• Executive, for VP to C-suite: a PCC ICF credential, 750+ coaching hours and 15+ years in leadership.
• Core, for director to senior director: an ACC ICF credential, 500+ coaching hours and 10+ years in leadership.
• Emerging, for individual contributors to senior managers: an ACC ICF credential, 300+ coaching hours and 5+ years in leadership.

The coach profiles on the home page show the kind of background Torch recruits. Sandeep led businesses at Gap Inc. and Mars before coaching C-suite leaders and founders. Rafal is a former Chief Learning Officer at Deloitte Switzerland and an ICF Master Certified Coach. Sheryl was an Executive Vice President at Wells Fargo and a Managing Director at Barclays. Jorge ran Axion Energy, a BP joint venture, and Marie headed commercial excellence at Merck. Others come from Kraft Heinz, Bain & Company, Accenture and KPMG, Siemens Industry Software, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, some with doctorates, including in organizational psychology and organizational leadership.

Spark AI between sessions

Spark is Torch's AI agent for the time between coaching sessions. The home page says it "is available for check-ins and focused skill development through custom roleplays." The example on the page is a voice roleplay of a performance conversation with a defensive employee who missed deadlines. After the exchange, Spark gives a read of how the leader did, noting that they named the impact and kept a steady tone, and suggests the next step: ask what got in the way before setting the expectation. The site says Spark can grade the leader on the skill, including the sentiment of their own voice.

The point is that practice continues without a coach on the line every time, while the human coach handles the deeper work. In the comparison page's words, Torch pairs human coaching with AI and practice in a hybrid model.

Results the company reports

Torch publishes several kinds of evidence, all its own or its clients'.

Ripple effect research. Developed with Censuswide, Torch's Coaching Ripple Effect research asked direct reports what changed after their manager received coaching. 94% reported positive changes in their manager, 91% reported changes in their own skills, and 79% reported at least moderate improvement in their work experience.

Satisfaction. Torch cites an 88.5 average NPS reported by its corporate clients across their participant populations.

Customer stories. The home page links each outcome to a story: 100% of participants at Tripadvisor reported substantial improvement in work performance, 95% at FICO reported multiple positive behavior changes, and 91% at Zendesk reported more motivation to take on responsibility and own their careers. Unnamed clients add that coached employees at a global technology company were 19% less likely to leave than matched, uncoached peers, that 92% of surveyed individual contributors at a global social media company agreed they could be more effective in their role, and that every participant at an accommodation marketplace made moderate-to-very-large progress on their goals.

Customer logos on the home page include PlayStation, Waymo, Couchbase, Ubisoft, Zendesk and Nebius. Quotes come from HR leaders as well. Richard Deal, Chief HR Officer at FICO, says "This program is helping our leaders grow while inspiring their teams". Tabitha Nelson, Talent Program Manager at Twitch, says "I highly recommend working with Torch because they are a partner."

Pricing

Torch does not list prices. Its comparison page says pricing is enterprise-quoted, and buyers start by requesting a consultation or a demo.

Who it suits

Torch's own summary is that it is best for mid-market and enterprise talent teams that need leadership development tied to strategy and measured against it. That fits a company going through a restructuring, an AI rollout or a change program, where the leadership team can say which capacities matter and wants to see them move on a 360. The three tiers make it practical to cover a whole leadership pipeline under one vendor, from first-time managers to executives, and the senior coach profiles suit organizations that want coaches who have run businesses themselves.

Because the coaching is human-led with AI in support and priced through enterprise quotes, it is a considered purchase rather than a quick self-serve tool. For a talent team that wants measurable leadership change tied to its own strategy, Torch is built around exactly that.