Vincent Creighton asks if conversational AI can coach leaders
As an Entrepreneurial PhD candidate at the UTS Connected Intelligence Centre (CIC) and an executive leader, Vincent Creighton is exploring how conversational AI can act as an effective leadership coach. His research focuses on creating a safe space where leaders can practice dealing with complexity, question unexamined assumptions, confront systemic challenges, and practise new ways of thinking and acting amidst the polycrisis.
Vincent’s research draws on more than twenty years leading education enterprises across digital startups and large scale online education providers. Throughout his career, he has led large teams, managed large portfolios, and scaled platforms. Today, as Managing Director of the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), he leads the strategic and digital modernisation of tertiary admissions across the higher education sector.
This executive background is anchored by extensive study. Vincent holds an Executive MBA with Distinction from RMIT and is a Certified CEO with The CEO Institute. His educational practice and leadership experiencd is grounded in adult education from UTS, where he completed a Master of Education and a Bachelor of Education (Adult Education), and received the UTS Phillips Prize. He combines this with human centred design and AI credentials from IDEO U, RMIT, IMD, and DeepLearning.
Across his leadership career, Vincent has seen firsthand that executives confronting interconnected systemic disruptions can benefit immensely from a safe environment to practise new ways of thinking and working. In high stakes roles, leaders rarely have a safe or confidential setting to explore ambiguous ideas, examine blind spots, or test alternative perspectives without risk.
This insight forms the core of his research at CIC. His project investigates whether custom conversational AI can serve as an intelligent partner for executive coaching. By bringing together sector/industry specific context, conversational simulation, and learning analytics, Vincent aims to provide leaders with a private, safe forum to test strategies, challenge their assumptions, and build the adaptive confidence needed to lead through uncertainty.