An Admin’s Guide to Hone AI

About Hone AI

Hone AI is a live, interactive AI Coach that upskills employees in the flow of work, built on Hone’s ecosystem of live learning experiences and research-backed content. It includes:

• AI Lessons. Bite-sized, interactive AI-led training that helps employees learn and reinforce skills on-demand.
• AI Practice: Unlimited time to roleplay real-world scenarios in a safe, judgment-free space with personalized feedback.
• AI Coach: On-demand performance coaching at scale, driving daily improvements that lead to transformative results.

How Hone AI compares to other AI coaches

• Best of AI and human-led training. Instead of AI coaching only, we combine always-on, AI-powered learning experiences with live, expert-led classes for more effective behavior change.
• Continuous learning ecosystem. We give learners multiple touchpoints to build skills over time across our AI-powered learning experiences and our live, human-led experiences (including classes, private programs, 1:1 and group coaching, personality assessments, and more).
• Research backed. Hone AI is trained on our extensive library of research-backed curriculum, so every framework, case study, and insight is rooted in proven learning science and I/O (Industrial Organizational) psychology.

Use cases Hone AI supports

1. Elevate manager performance
Equip people leaders with the skills to navigate everyday leadership moments, from coaching to feedback, so they can guide their teams with confidence. 

2. Scale HRBP support
Give managers an always-on resource to practice real-world situations and receive tailored feedback in a safe, judgment-free space, freeing HRBPs to focus on strategic priorities.

3. Strengthen collaboration skills across teams
Equip individual contributors and managers to become stronger collaborators and teammates through collaboration-focused AI-led Lessons and Practice sessions.

4. Onboard, upskill & support new managers
Empower new managers with:

• On-demand learning experiences that equip managers with essential leadership skills 
• Opportunities to practice challenging leadership situations before they happen in real life
• Just-in-time nudges to adopt best practices and drive accountability (available in the future through AI Coach)

5. Equip the whole team with critical skills
Empower employees with the skills to succeed in today’s workplace through AI-led Lessons and Practice sessions covering topics like coaching, collaboration, and feedback – skills that make teams stronger and workplaces better.

6. Prepare for high-stakes conversations
Give learners the tools to succeed when the pressure is on. Through realistic simulations in a supportive, judgment-free space, they can practice delivering feedback, experiment with different strategies, and leave better equipped for real-world challenges.

Want to explore more use cases? Check out this 5-minute article, 8 Ways to Use Hone AI for Employee Development.

Hone AI FAQ

• When will Hone AI be available?
  • Hone AI is now available for all Hone Membership users.
• How does Hone’s use of AI align with industry standards or best practices?
  • We approach AI as we do everything at Hone: with our customers and learning experience at the forefront of every decision we make. We apply the same security, privacy, and data protection practices to Hone AI that we do across all services, validated through our SOC 2 Type 2 audit. 
• How is Hone AI protecting user data?
  • Hone AI is designed to protect learner privacy while enabling personalized experiences. Data shared with our subprocessors is never used to train underlying AI models. Hone and its subprocessors process data securely and only as needed to provide the service.
  • For more details, visit:
    • Hone Trust Center
    • Data Protection Policy
• How is data stored?
  • Data used by Hone AI is stored in accordance with Hone’s standard data protection and retention policies. For more details, visit:
    • Hone Trust Center
    • Data Protection Policy
    • Data Retention Policy
• Who can see what I ask Hone AI?
  • Only authorized Hone team members may review interactions for quality assurance and to improve the learning experience. All sensitive data is handled in line with Hone’s standard security and privacy practices. 
  • For more details, visit: 
    • Hone Trust Center
    • Privacy Policy
• Can I track my organization’s engagement with Hone AI?
  • Yes! You can now view and export engagement metrics for Hone AI Lessons and Practice sessions, including start and completion statuses, in the Learner Activity report.
  • For robust reporting needs, we recommend working with your Customer Account Manager to explore off-platform options, such as using Hone's Google Sheets plugin or Hone's API key.
• Why should my team use Hone vs. Chat GPT or Gemini?
  • While ChatGPT and Gemini are great at general knowledge, Hone AI is built specifically for leadership and employee development. The L&D and HR teams we work with prefer Hone because:
    • It’s trained on Hone’s research-backed content that’s grounded in adult learning science and our experience delivering tens of thousands of classes. Instead of generic leadership advice scraped from the internet, Hone AI delivers insights that are designed to drive real behavior change and measurable growth.
    • It understands your organization’s unique context, ensuring learning aligns with your company’s values, goals, policies, and more.
    • Our AI experiences are co-designed with professional coaches and our AI Lessons and Practice leverage industry-standard instructional design principles and adult learning methodologies to maximize effectiveness and engagement.
    • Rather than being a standalone chatbot, Hone AI drives continuous learning, from pre-class preparation to post-class reinforcement, helping employees build, reinforce, and grow skills in the flow of work.
    • In addition to our guided frameworks, Hone is designed with guardrails that do not engage in sensitive topics and guide employees to connect with their People or HR team when appropriate.
• Can I assign Hone AI sessions to my learners?
  • Yes! Now, you can now add Hone AI Lesson and Practice sessions to Membership programs.
  • How it works:
    • When creating a program, select “Membership + AI.”
    • Choose the live classes and AI Lessons and Practice sessions you want to add to your program, set a completion date, and add learners to the program.
    • Once learners are added, they’ll get nudges to enroll in the program and complete the live and AI sessions by the due date.
• I need to complete a security questionnaire before my team uses Hone AI. How can I opt out for now?
  • If you have a security questionnaire that needs to be completed, the best place to start is our Trust Center, where you’ll find self-service access to our security, privacy, and compliance documentation.
    • You can also submit questionnaires directly through the Trust Center.
    • If the questionnaire needs to be completed outside of the Trust Center, or if you have additional questions, please email security-team@honehq.com.
  • If you’d like to opt out of Hone AI while your questionnaire is in progress, follow these steps:
    • Log into your Hone admin dashboard
    • Click the gear icon in upper right hand corner
    • Select “AI Features”
    • Change “Hone AI” to “Off” to opt out of Hone AI for your admins and learners
• Is Hone AI data subject to legal discovery?
  • Yes. Like any enterprise software (such as email, messaging apps, or shared documents), data processed by Hone AI can be subject to legal discovery if required by a valid court order or subpoena. No workplace software is legally immune from litigation.
  • However, Hone AI is built with a Privacy by Design approach to minimize internal risks and protect employee sentiment:
    • No Internal Monitoring: Admins cannot browse or search Hone AI chats. This prevents casual access or monitoring by management.
    • High Barrier to Access: Because there is no internal search tool, retrieving specific chats requires a formal legal process. This ensures conversations are protected from being used in routine internal disputes.
  • Best Practice Recommendation: We advise companies to implement a clear internal policy reminding employees to use Hone AI with the same professional judgment they would apply to any workplace tool or human executive coach.

Tips & resources to roll out Hone AI at your organization

Follow these two steps to ensure a seamless roll out experience and start driving engagement with your employees:

1. Verify Your Network Access

Before Hone AI is enabled for your organization, we recommend checking with your IT team to verify network access to the following domains.

• Domain requirements: api.elevenlabs.io should be reachable over WSS/WebSocket Secure (port 443).
• Verification depends on your organization’s network policies, but here's some general guidance that you can share with your IT team:
  • If your network blocks access to the required domain or protocols, some Hone AI features may not work as expected.

2. Spread the Word About Hone AI to Your Employees

Use the below resources to drive adoption for Hone AI at your organization.

Email Template: Sharing Hone AI with Learners

Use or customize the below email template to build awareness and excitement for Hone AI with your employees.

From: Hone Admin

To: Learners with Hone Membership Access

Subject Line: New: Accelerate your career growth with Hone AI 

Copy:

Hi [learner name],

Exciting news! There’s a new way to accelerate your career growth and achieve your professional development goals.

Our learning partner Hone just launched Hone AI – an interactive, on-demand AI Coach designed to help you learn and reinforce critical leadership and workplace skills.

How Hone AI helps you grow:

• Build skills on your schedule with 8-10 min. Lessons that meet you where you’re at – whether you’re new to the topic, need a quick refresher, or looking to take your knowledge to the next level.
  • Try: Collaborate with Clarity
• Practice tough conversations before they happen with realistic role plays in a safe, judgment-free space and get personalized feedback that helps you show up with confidence.
  • Try: Giving Feedback
• Access your personal coach that you can tap into anytime, via voice or chat, for deep reflection, quick solutions, or tailored learning recommendations to support your growth.
  • Visit Coach and try starting with these prompts:
    • I need to give some tough feedback to a colleague tomorrow. Can you help me prepare?
    • I’m having trouble communicating with my team. Can you give me some guidance?
    • What learning experiences should I take next to advance in my career?

Feel free to reach out with any questions, and I’m happy to help.

Best,
[Your name]

Learner Kick-Off Deck

Use this presentation deck to highlight the benefits of Hone AI and how it works. It’s the perfect way to start driving excitement for Hone AI with your employees in your next meeting or via email.

Hone AI Videos

• Demo: 8-minute walkthrough of Hone AI Sessions and Coach.
• Intro to Hone AI for Learners: Short, 1-minute video highlighting Hone AI and how it works.

Hone AI Support Articles

• About Hone AI Sessions (Lessons & Practice)
• About Hone AI Coach
  • For Admins
  • For Learners

Let your voice be heard 
Know of an employee who benefited from Hone AI? Did you discover a new use case? Have insights that could take the product experience to the next level? We want to hear from you! 

Your feedback helps us shape the future of Hone AI and celebrate the real impact it’s making for your team. Share your wins, ideas, and observations with your Customer Account Manager – let’s keep building something great together.